海角大神

A lot of nonsense has been spouted in recent years about the supposed death, or near death, of the genuine movie star. When 鈥淭op Gun: Maverick鈥� came out, Tom Cruise was routinely referred to in the press as the last of his kind.

Now we have 鈥淔1: The Movie,鈥� the propulsive Formula One racing car Imax extravaganza starring Brad Pitt, a movie star if ever there was one. What鈥檚 more, it was written, directed, and co-produced by the same team that brought you 鈥淭op Gun: Maverick.鈥�

Let鈥檚 be clear: As long as there are movies, there will always be movie stars.

In many ways, 鈥淔1鈥� is a thinly disguised revamping of 鈥淢averick.鈥� It plays out a similar storyline: An over-the-hill bad boy warrior seeks redemption while battling a cocky younger rival 鈥� in this case, Damson Idris鈥� Joshua Pearce. The lead actors even perform their own stunts, driving their souped-up racing cars at speeds approaching 200 mph. Take that, Tom Cruise!

Pitt鈥檚 Sonny Hayes was a top racing prospect in his youth until a serious accident in the 1993 Spanish Grand Prix sidelined his career. Dubbed 鈥渢he greatest that never was,鈥� he quit racing, gambled, caroused, burned through several divorces, drove a New York taxi, and now lives in a van. He has returned to the sport as a racer-for-hire but has no ambitions beyond a quick fix behind the wheel. He doesn鈥檛 care about money or glory.

But he does care 鈥� about the glory at least 鈥� or there wouldn鈥檛 be a movie. He initially bristles when Ruben Cervantes (Javier Bardem) 鈥� an old friend and fellow driver who now owns a last place Formula One team 鈥� implores him to join the squad. Ruben says his company is about to collapse unless it can cop a big win, and Sonny is the only one who can make that happen. It鈥檚 a pitch that Sonny, of course, refuses. Until he doesn鈥檛.

Knowing where all this is heading doesn鈥檛 really detract from the film鈥檚 vroom appeal. Sonny and Joshua may bicker and backbite, but, on the track, in their shiny silver-and-white suits, they resemble demigods. (I half expected someone on the team to call out, 鈥淢ay the g-force be with you.鈥�)

Director Joseph Kosinski and his screenwriter Ehren Kruger are smart enough to recognize that the film鈥檚 plot and subplots 鈥� including a smarmy corporate investor (Tobias Menzies) and the team鈥檚 technical director/love interest (Kerry Condon) 鈥� are essentially filler. Their stated aim was to make the most authentic racing car movie ever made and, from a purely technical standpoint, they鈥檝e succeeded.

Movie engineering know-how has greatly advanced since the days of, say, 鈥淕rand Prix,鈥� or 鈥淒ays of Thunder鈥� (which, like this film, was also co-produced by Jerry Bruckheimer). Even 鈥淔ord v Ferrari鈥� and 鈥淔errari,鈥� of more recent vintage, don鈥檛 quite galvanize the way 鈥淔1鈥� does at its best. But, as exciting technically as it is on the track, 鈥淔1鈥� itself resembles a piece of technology. Thrill-by-thrill, it鈥檚 tooled to capture our attention in much the same way that an eye-popping video game does. After a while, even the racing scenes blur together. That鈥檚 largely because there鈥檚 not much lyricism in all that whizzing. There鈥檚 a wonderful moment when Sonny opens up about the bliss he feels when he鈥檚 driving at his peak. If more of that elation had been conveyed in the racing footage, 鈥淔1鈥� might have soared instead of vroomed.

What finally holds all the hokum together is Pitt. Even though the movie keeps ramming home the idea that Formula One racing is a team sport, Sonny鈥檚 outlaw vibe is clearly its focus. Idris is a quicksilver performer, but Pitt 鈥� in films like 鈥淥nce Upon a Time... in Hollywood鈥� and 鈥淢oneyball鈥� and even the misbegotten 鈥淏abylon鈥� 鈥� has perfected a kind of studly world-weariness that wipes everybody else off the screen. He鈥檚 that relative rarity 鈥� a great big movie star who can also really act. And no, he is not the last of his kind. But right now he is probably its best exemplar.

Peter Rainer is the Monitor鈥檚 film critic. 鈥淔1: The Movie鈥� is rated PG-13 for strong language, and action.