F1 The Movie
If you’re into Formula One racing and follow the Grand Prix global circuit, rush to see “F1: The Movie,” following in the tire-tracks of “Ford vs Ferrari,” “Rush,” “Gran Turismo,” “Senna” and “Days of Thunder.”
If – on the other hand – you’re not quite sure about motorsports and/or have problems deciphering British accents without subtitles, you might want to wait until this high-octane thriller is streaming on Apple TV+.
The adrenaline-fueled story revolves around the comeback of veteran driver Sonny Hayes (Brad Pitt). After winning a Florida endurance race – ‘24 Hours of Daytona’ – he’s off to Ensenada in his beat-up camper van to chase another victory.
That’s where Sonny is cornered by his pal Ruben Cervantes (Javier Bardem), who begs him to be ‘second driver’ to British hotshot rookie, Joshua Pearce (Damson Idris), so that his struggling APXGP team can win a Formula One race and Ruben can keep his job.
Art first, Sonny’s not sure; he’s still recovering from the catastrophic crash in Spain that torpedoed his career 30 years ago and sent him into a gambling tailspin.
Predictably, obsessive Sonny joins Ruben’s team and, unsurprisingly, he’s not willing to be ‘second’ to brash, swaggering Joshua. Check one cliché after another.
Milling around the plot’s periphery are Joshua’s protective mother (Sarah Niles) and APX’s lead designer (Kerry Condon), balancing power with high-tech precision as the first/only woman to hold this prestigious engineering post.
Scripted by Ehren Kruger and directed by Joseph Kosinski with an eye on authenticity, the film’s most exciting racing sequences were shot by Claudio Miranda during actual 2023 & 2024 Grand Prix and deftly edited by Stephen Mirrione, punctuated by Hans Zimmer’s score.
“Slow is smooth, and smooth is fast,” Sonny strategizes. But there’s no way to hide the ridiculous amount of product/brand placement that’s rampant in auto-racing.
FYI: Brad Pitt was paid $30 million, his career-biggest salary – and Mercedes built the car driven by the fictional APXGP team.
On the Granger Gauge of 1 to 10, “F1: The Movie” screeches in with a propulsive 7, playing in theaters.
The Waterfront
Watching Kevin Williamson’s crime drama “The Waterfront” inevitably evokes memories of “Ozark,” in which a Chicago accountant (Jason Bateman) skimmed money from a Mexican drug cartel and was forced to flee with his dysfunctional family to the Ozarks.
In “The Waterfront,” mounting debt caused by “overfished waters, environmental quotas, gas prices” forces the Buckleys, a prominent coastal Havenport ‘fishing’ family, to return to their shady drug-running past.
In the opening scene, a cocaine hand-off at sea goes sour, and many of the crew working for Cane Buckley (Jake Weary) are shot dead. Cane has been running the family’s seafood operations while his womanizing, whiskey-drenched father Harlan (Holt McCallany), recovers from another heart attack.
Cane’s mother Belle (Maria Bello) manages their ‘fish house’ restaurant, while his estranged, recovering-addict sister Bree (Melissa Benoist) – who burned down the house and lost custody of her sulky teenage son Diller (Brady Hepner) – has hooked up with hunky DEA Agent Marcus Sanchez (Gerardo Celasco), whom she met in rehab.
Gruff, patriarchal Harlan smuggled drugs for years – like his father before him. But Cane’s gone straight – until the Buckleys face financial failure and must deal with corrupt Sheriff Clyde Porter (Michael Gaston) and diabolical, deranged drug kingpin Grady (Topher Grace) to preserve their legacy.
Complicating matters, shrewd Belle is suspicious of recently-hired bartender (Rafael L. Silva), whose references don’t check out; she plans to sell Harlan’s prime waterfront property to a real-estate developer (Dave Annable).
Meanwhile, Cane’s coping with unresolved feelings for his high school sweetheart (Humberly Gonzalez), much to the distress of his wife (Danielle Campbell).
Creator of “Scream,” “Dawson’s Creek” & “The Vampire Diaries,” showrunner Kevin Williamson juggles innumerable instances of Southern gothic deception, betrayal and graphic torture.
Filming in Wilmington & Southport, North Carolina, he based the series’ concept on true events and familial experiences in North Carolina’s fishing industry.
Problem is: there’s little urgency to the soapy plot, the dialogue is stilted, and the superficial characters never really develop beyond first-impressions.
On the Granger Gauge of 1 to 10, “The Waterfront” hooks you with a fishy 5. All eight episodes are streaming on Netflix.
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