Have you ever noticed how there’s always something for everyone when it comes to certain interests? For example, if you like wrestling but can’t stand the theatrics of the World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), there’s always the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). If you love movies but hate communalized mainstream films, there’s always arthouse/foreign films. One final example would be racing involving fast cars. If don’t like the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR) and its culture, there’s Formula One, which is something I’ve always heard of but never given it the attention nor the credit it deserves. Something that I noticed recently about racing in general is that it feels like a hereditary interest on my dad’s side of my family. While none of the Czaja members of my family ever competed in racing (at least to my knowledge), my grandfather, Bruce Czaja I (forever rest in peace) was a general manager for the Sebring International Raceway in Sebring, Florida, where, if he had the position today, he would be President and General Manager. My father, Bruce Czaja II, didn’t pursue the racing world like his father though had a noble career as a member of the Marine Corps. For twenty years, though, his interest in the sport was there, which is something I noticed in my twenties and now thirties, specifically in Formula One. While my main interest in life when it comes to entertainment is movies in general, Hollywood recently made a film that I feel like it was meant for my dad and I to watch together and that movie is F1: The Movie. 

Around this team last year (more specifically July 2024), the first teaser of F1:
The Movie was released and after I watched it, I knew it was something I wanted to take my dad to go see in a theater. Unlike myself, he doesn’t go to the movies. Indeed, the last movie he and I watched in a theater together was Father Stu(2022) during Easter weekend back in 2022. We were due for a father/son cinema trip, and fortunately we were both free for a Thursday night preview showing of F1: The Movie. While I was excited to see it with my dad, I also had hoped that the film was going to be somewhat decent. Hence, as I often ask in my reviews, was F1: The Movie worth the hype? As usual, let’s find out. . . .

In F1: The Movie, we follow Sonny Hayes (Brad Pitt), a race car driver who may be getting on in years, but is good at what he does. Sonny is a bit of a vagabond, someone who lives in his van jumping from race-to-race to satisfy his desire to drive. Years ago, however, Sonny competed in Formula One, though severe injuries during his stint in the 1990s ended his career. After competing (and winning) 24 Hours of Daytona, Sonny then decides to travel to Mexico to compete in the Baja 1000, but before he takes off, he runs into a former teammate turned F1 team owner Rueben (Javier Bardem). After catching up, Ruben offers Sonny a spot on his racing team APX as they are one driver short and his investors may sell the team unless APX can pull off a miracle and win a race with nine races left in the season. Reluctant at first, Sonny flies to the United Kingdom’s Silverstone Circuit where the APX team is located and he meets several members of the team including the technical director Kate McKenna (Kerry Condon) and APX’s rookie driver Joshua Pearce (Damson Idris). Unsurprisingly, Sonny and Joshua build a bit of tension towards each other after their first meeting and it grows after their first race together leads to unsuccessful results. From there, Sonny and Joshua find a way to work together and achieve the needed victory, which will not only result in fame and glory, but also prevent the board members of APX from selling the team. The sale could result the entire team being replaced and out of work next season.

So, after a couple of days since watching F1: The Movie, something I noticed about the story is that it’s pretty straightforward and simple. Honestly, if I didn’t watch any trailer or know the cast and crew but just heard about it, I would most likely still watch it given that it’s a Formula One racing film. Still, I would do so with low expectations. Having said that and despite the simple plot, it is probably my favorite summer blockbuster so far given the spectacle of extraordinary racing scenes. Thanks for the excitement are owed to the director, Joseph Kosinski.

For those who are unaware, Joseph Kosinski has been directing game some time now. When I when I heard he was going to direct F1: The Movie, I think it was the right call getting him behind the camera. Some of his previous films include Tron: Legacy (2010), Oblivion (2013), and Top Gun: Maverick (2022), to name a few. Unlike his previous films, which are mainly science fiction and/or sequels, F1: The Movie is a collaboration effort with Formula One contributing real-life teams, locations, and drivers, which gave the film an authentic look. This joint filmmaking made the racing and scenes featuring the logistics of the driver/racecar feel seamless and realistic. In retrospect, after directing Top Gun: Maverick, F1: The Movie seemed like the next best film for him to direct given that he knows how to film high speed vehicles that not only add character to the film, but allow the actors piloting/driving the vehicles to stand out compared to other franchises, **cough cough Fast and Furious franchise cough cough**

If there’s one word that stuck with me while I was watching F1: The Movie, it was the word miracle. It was said once or twice in the beginning of the film and mentioned a good number of times in the third act, more specifically the final race. As a Catholic, the word miracle is an important occurrence not just to myself but to others Catholics/Christians. In general, I do believe God provides us with mini miracles that help us get by and while they may not lead us to sainthood, it’s something that I try and appreciate every day. Not to get into spoiler territory, but “it would take a miracle for this to happen” was sort of mentioned (somewhat paraphrasing) and a mini miracle happened to the APX team which they desperately needed given their situation in the final race. While it didn’t stand out or define the movie compared to other sports films like Miracle (2004), just having the tone of a mini miracle happening in a scene that defies certain situations and feels earned is a great feeling to have when watching films like these. 

So much like my review for Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour (2023) where I featured my sister’s thoughts of that film, I will replicate the same notion for F1: The Movie with my dad, Bruce Czaja II.

“The plot is basically a version of Top Gun, but in a Formula 1 race car. The casting and acting was excellent, and the cooperation with the actual F1 teams, drivers, and media made it a very realistic movie. I can overlook the few technical issues because I understand the need to move along a good story line, and they get so much right in the movie. Joseph Kosinski got it right – an entertaining movie that can appeal to F1 fans and a broader audience.”

To echo the last sentence, F1: The Movie is a film that will appeal not only to fans of the sport, but for those who want to see a film with high-speed racing and characters that you feel for despite not being perfect throughout the film. If there is a flaw with the film, it would mostly be the lengthy runtime. I should be conditioned to long films by now given how Hollywood thinks longer films equals better quality, there could’ve been some scenes trimmed to make the runtime a bit more accessible. Like I mentioned earlier, F1: The Movie is currently my favorite summer blockbuster as of June 2025, but there are two months left in the season. Definitely check it out on the biggest screen possible. My dad and I watched it on IMAX and I feel like it would’ve been a major movie sin if we first saw it a regular format. One thing I forgot to mention earlier is that the film is an Apple Studios production, which means if for some reason you can’t see it in a theater, I highly recommend seeing it on Apple TV+ when it streams there later in 2025. My dad said when it comes to that streaming site, he’s going to watch it as many times as he can and honestly, I don’t blame him one bit.