June 27, 2025 • 8 mins
Joe Neumaier joins Mendte in the Morning to talk about the new ‘F1’ movie out this weekend and other racing movies that people love.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Well, let's get right to Joe Neumeyer, film journalist and
w o R movie minted host.
Speaker 2 (00:05):
Hi Joe, how are you hey, Larry Good We've got
a big summer movie this weekend that's kind of coming
into the finish line kind of a little bit at
three stars. Have you heard about F one, the movie,
the big Brad Pitt movie that's opening this weekend?
Speaker 1 (00:19):
How could I not? Every time I turn on the
TV there's an ad for it. Yes, I've heard about.
Speaker 2 (00:24):
It, right, I think the Formula one organization file, which
has you know, a stake inside the movie. You know,
they are obviously the driving force behind it, no pun
intended have made sure that right. The airwaves are saturated
with it. Here's the thing about this movie, though, Larry.
I'm giving it three stars, and I like it based
on two things really. One is that Brad Pitt is
(00:45):
sort of one of the last great movie stars, and
I you know, I loved him in Once upon a
Time in Hollywood. He absolutely deserved that best supporting Actor
Oscar for that and his marquee value raises this movie.
I think I think there was another actor in there.
I think you wouldn't really buy it. The other thing
is that I'm a big fan of racing movies, and
I think this film has got some really terrific racing
sequences in it. It's all about you know, f one. Obviously,
(01:07):
it's got some cliche story stuff going on, but the
racing scenes are really really great. The thing is, though,
is the movie is really cliche on the back of
a cereal box and and that's you know, that's sort
of something you might kind of expect a little bit,
but at this point, you know, I think we need
a little bit more. It really feels like Days of Thunder,
(01:28):
the Tom Cruise movie from nineteen ninety where the you know,
the bar was really kind of low and it was
sort of a kind of a cliche thing. You know,
in this movie, obviously, you know, Pitt is the is
the elder driver. He's sort of this over the hill
guy who's who's racing just he's not racing for the money.
He's doing it just for the fun of it. Essentially,
he had a you know, the story goes that he's
(01:50):
a fictional character of the back in the nineties, he
had a spinout and he's sort of been recovering from
it for thirty years. An old buddy of his played
by Javier Bardem, who's a team owner, kind of recruits
him to be a driver on the on the Formula
One team, and there's a conflict with a younger driver
that he sort of becomes a mentor to. There's a
you know, a sexy engineer and played by Kerry Condon,
(02:13):
who I love. She was in Fancy's Finish, Sharon. She's
really terrific. She's a love interest for Pitt. All of
these things, it's like, you know exactly what's coming, and
the way it's sort of done is it's really basic,
it's really rudimentary, but the driving sequences are terrific. There.
You know a lot of these are what's called practical effects.
They're really done really well, and Pitt really sells it.
(02:35):
You know, he really is a you know, he's one
of our last great movie stars. So based on those things,
I'm giving it, I'm giving it three stars. But if
you go in expecting it to be something like Ford
versus Ferrari, which I really love Love I Love Me Too,
which has got a real story and it's based on
you know, obviously, you know, it's based on a real thing.
Carol Shelby and the nineteen sixties world of that, and
(02:58):
or even a movie like rush Ron Howard's, which I
think doesn't get enough appreciation. It's based on the seventies
F one competition between Nikki Lauden and James Hunt. It's
not that it's not those movies. I think those movies
are much better. They've also got great racing sequences, but
they also have really terrific stories. But you know, if
you're going just for the fun of it, for a
(03:18):
big summer thing and watching watching race car stuff on
the big screen, then F one the movie, which is
also that's the title F one the movie, so you
don't get confused with, like, you know, F one the
breakfast cereal or something.
Speaker 1 (03:29):
Hey, this is a movie you should see in the theaters
because because of the racing sequences.
Speaker 2 (03:36):
Exactly and only because of the racing sequence. The other
sequences all feel very obvious. But because of these sequences, Yeah,
I would absolutely recommend it being and you shouldn't, Yeah,
don't wait for the screen. Yeah, because I think any
of the power of this movie and it's in imax. Know,
if any of the power of this movie is gonna
be is gonna be shown on the big screen. It's
really gonna gonna come through. It also reminds me of like,
(03:57):
you know, one of the things that that I love
about racing movies is because it's sort of like football.
A great racing film can really kind of use the form,
can use cinema as a as almost like it's another driver,
which I really like. And I think that this movie
does something that this A couple of years ago, there's
a movie called Grant Turismo, which was also based on
(04:17):
a true story about this this guy's got jan Marlborough
I think was his name, who was an amateur kind
of video game player who was recruited to be a driver.
It kind of uses this thing where there's a you know,
you're really getting there's an announcer over the over the action.
You're kind of hearing the voices of the of the commentators,
and it kind of has things, you know, lots of
(04:38):
bells and whistles on the screen, so you know what
who's who's ahead of what, and what what turns are
coming up and what drama just happened. And I think
that kind of thing takes away from it. That's the
kind of thing that movies like you know, back in
the sixties, things like Winging or Grand Prix or Lemon's
all these great movies and one with Steve McQueen, one
with James Garner. Those movies didn't meet They didn't have that,
and I think this movie kind of feels like it's
(05:00):
got to have that. It makes it feel a little
like a video game, which takes away from it in
a lot of ways.
Speaker 1 (05:04):
Right, I will tell you this, you're batting a thousand
in our house right now. We went to see the
latest Mission Impossible on your suggestion.
Speaker 2 (05:13):
It was.
Speaker 1 (05:14):
There was also a power outage when we were looking
for air conditioning, but we did have movies, we did
have movie choices, and we chose that one because I said, hey,
Joe Neumeier likes this one. He hasn't led us wrong yet.
And I loved it. And I'm not a big Mission
Impossible fan. It was wonderful. It was really really good.
Speaker 2 (05:33):
I'm so happy to hear that. Larry. Yeah, that last
sequence right on the planes, I mean that could have
gone on another half hour. That was an amazing sequence.
Speaker 1 (05:41):
Now did he do that stunt? And I mean he's
proud of the fact that he does these stunts. By himself.
And I saw this one and I thought, Oh, we
can't be doing this. He can't possibly be doing this.
Speaker 2 (05:51):
That's him, that's him, that's him doing it. I mean
it's sort of crazy and in fact, to kind of
bring it all full circle. The director of this movie
of F one, his name is still of Kazinski. He
also did Maverick, the sequel of The Top Gun, so
he wants to bring Tom Cruise's character from Days of
Thunder back. He's kind of thrown it out there, maybe
as a joke as an F one sequel, but yeah,
(06:12):
that's really Cruise, that's that's you know, he's he's I
think he hooked up to something obviously so that he's
got a parachute on so if he falls, he's not
going to die. But that's really him, however, many miles
above the earth kind of acting and as like the
you know, the gravity forces are whipping his face back.
It's amazing. It's extraordinary to watch him sort of do
(06:32):
that stuff. And and cheersday and he's gonna get an
honorary Oscar in February or March at the next Oscars.
And you know, Jay solely on the on the way
he's brought back the excitement of live stunts. Good for him, right, amazing, You're.
Speaker 1 (06:46):
Right, you're right on that. But it's a shame he
didn't get an acting Oscar. He's nominated four times, but
he should have won for Born on the fourth of July.
Speaker 2 (06:54):
Do you agree, totally agree, Born in the fourth July
or even Jerry maguire, Born in the fourth of July
is by far his greatest performance. And that's a phenomenal
Oliver Stone film. I think it's a really terrific film.
But I also think Jerry McGuire, you know, while the
rom con stuff is a little goofy, you know, playing
an actual character who's a person in the world, in
(07:14):
the in the present day. And I always say this
about people like Jack Lemon in the Apartment or you know,
somebody like Dustin Hoffman who got an oscar for Kramer
versus Kramer playing just a real guy and who he
doesn't have anything going on. There's no trick going on.
He's not, you know, trying to deal with a you know,
a you know, one leg or or you know he's
(07:34):
got two heads or something, or there's any cgi or something.
You know, he's an actual character, an actual person in
the world. Playing that kind of guy is really tough,
and he did a great in Jerry Maguire, So that's
another either one of those two roles he would have
deserved it.
Speaker 1 (07:48):
I have our connection is getting a little weird here
right now, Joe. I'm gonna say goodbye if that's okay,
and we'll talk to you again next week.
Speaker 2 (07:55):
Sounds good, Thanks Larry. Talking about to week
Speaker 1 (07:56):
Joe neumai Or film journalist wo R Movie Minute host
Well, let's get right to Joe Neumeyer, film journalist and
w o R movie minted host.
Speaker 2 (00:05):
Hi Joe, how are you hey, Larry Good We've got
a big summer movie this weekend that's kind of coming
into the finish line kind of a little bit at
three stars. Have you heard about F one, the movie,
the big Brad Pitt movie that's opening this weekend?
Speaker 1 (00:19):
How could I not? Every time I turn on the
TV there's an ad for it. Yes, I've heard about.
Speaker 2 (00:24):
It, right, I think the Formula one organization file, which
has you know, a stake inside the movie. You know,
they are obviously the driving force behind it, no pun
intended have made sure that right. The airwaves are saturated
with it. Here's the thing about this movie, though, Larry.
I'm giving it three stars, and I like it based
on two things really. One is that Brad Pitt is
(00:45):
sort of one of the last great movie stars, and
I you know, I loved him in Once upon a
Time in Hollywood. He absolutely deserved that best supporting Actor
Oscar for that and his marquee value raises this movie.
I think I think there was another actor in there.
I think you wouldn't really buy it. The other thing
is that I'm a big fan of racing movies, and
I think this film has got some really terrific racing
sequences in it. It's all about you know, f one. Obviously,
(01:07):
it's got some cliche story stuff going on, but the
racing scenes are really really great. The thing is, though,
is the movie is really cliche on the back of
a cereal box and and that's you know, that's sort
of something you might kind of expect a little bit,
but at this point, you know, I think we need
a little bit more. It really feels like Days of Thunder,
(01:28):
the Tom Cruise movie from nineteen ninety where the you know,
the bar was really kind of low and it was
sort of a kind of a cliche thing. You know,
in this movie, obviously, you know, Pitt is the is
the elder driver. He's sort of this over the hill
guy who's who's racing just he's not racing for the money.
He's doing it just for the fun of it. Essentially,
he had a you know, the story goes that he's
(01:50):
a fictional character of the back in the nineties, he
had a spinout and he's sort of been recovering from
it for thirty years. An old buddy of his played
by Javier Bardem, who's a team owner, kind of recruits
him to be a driver on the on the Formula
One team, and there's a conflict with a younger driver
that he sort of becomes a mentor to. There's a
you know, a sexy engineer and played by Kerry Condon,
(02:13):
who I love. She was in Fancy's Finish, Sharon. She's
really terrific. She's a love interest for Pitt. All of
these things, it's like, you know exactly what's coming, and
the way it's sort of done is it's really basic,
it's really rudimentary, but the driving sequences are terrific. There.
You know a lot of these are what's called practical effects.
They're really done really well, and Pitt really sells it.
(02:35):
You know, he really is a you know, he's one
of our last great movie stars. So based on those things,
I'm giving it, I'm giving it three stars. But if
you go in expecting it to be something like Ford
versus Ferrari, which I really love Love I Love Me Too,
which has got a real story and it's based on
you know, obviously, you know, it's based on a real thing.
Carol Shelby and the nineteen sixties world of that, and
(02:58):
or even a movie like rush Ron Howard's, which I
think doesn't get enough appreciation. It's based on the seventies
F one competition between Nikki Lauden and James Hunt. It's
not that it's not those movies. I think those movies
are much better. They've also got great racing sequences, but
they also have really terrific stories. But you know, if
you're going just for the fun of it, for a
(03:18):
big summer thing and watching watching race car stuff on
the big screen, then F one the movie, which is
also that's the title F one the movie, so you
don't get confused with, like, you know, F one the
breakfast cereal or something.
Speaker 1 (03:29):
Hey, this is a movie you should see in the theaters
because because of the racing sequences.
Speaker 2 (03:36):
Exactly and only because of the racing sequence. The other
sequences all feel very obvious. But because of these sequences, Yeah,
I would absolutely recommend it being and you shouldn't, Yeah,
don't wait for the screen. Yeah, because I think any
of the power of this movie and it's in imax. Know,
if any of the power of this movie is gonna
be is gonna be shown on the big screen. It's
really gonna gonna come through. It also reminds me of like,
(03:57):
you know, one of the things that that I love
about racing movies is because it's sort of like football.
A great racing film can really kind of use the form,
can use cinema as a as almost like it's another driver,
which I really like. And I think that this movie
does something that this A couple of years ago, there's
a movie called Grant Turismo, which was also based on
(04:17):
a true story about this this guy's got jan Marlborough
I think was his name, who was an amateur kind
of video game player who was recruited to be a driver.
It kind of uses this thing where there's a you know,
you're really getting there's an announcer over the over the action.
You're kind of hearing the voices of the of the commentators,
and it kind of has things, you know, lots of
(04:38):
bells and whistles on the screen, so you know what
who's who's ahead of what, and what what turns are
coming up and what drama just happened. And I think
that kind of thing takes away from it. That's the
kind of thing that movies like you know, back in
the sixties, things like Winging or Grand Prix or Lemon's
all these great movies and one with Steve McQueen, one
with James Garner. Those movies didn't meet They didn't have that,
and I think this movie kind of feels like it's
(05:00):
got to have that. It makes it feel a little
like a video game, which takes away from it in
a lot of ways.
Speaker 1 (05:04):
Right, I will tell you this, you're batting a thousand
in our house right now. We went to see the
latest Mission Impossible on your suggestion.
Speaker 2 (05:13):
It was.
Speaker 1 (05:14):
There was also a power outage when we were looking
for air conditioning, but we did have movies, we did
have movie choices, and we chose that one because I said, hey,
Joe Neumeier likes this one. He hasn't led us wrong yet.
And I loved it. And I'm not a big Mission
Impossible fan. It was wonderful. It was really really good.
Speaker 2 (05:33):
I'm so happy to hear that. Larry. Yeah, that last
sequence right on the planes, I mean that could have
gone on another half hour. That was an amazing sequence.
Speaker 1 (05:41):
Now did he do that stunt? And I mean he's
proud of the fact that he does these stunts. By himself.
And I saw this one and I thought, Oh, we
can't be doing this. He can't possibly be doing this.
Speaker 2 (05:51):
That's him, that's him, that's him doing it. I mean
it's sort of crazy and in fact, to kind of
bring it all full circle. The director of this movie
of F one, his name is still of Kazinski. He
also did Maverick, the sequel of The Top Gun, so
he wants to bring Tom Cruise's character from Days of
Thunder back. He's kind of thrown it out there, maybe
as a joke as an F one sequel, but yeah,
(06:12):
that's really Cruise, that's that's you know, he's he's I
think he hooked up to something obviously so that he's
got a parachute on so if he falls, he's not
going to die. But that's really him, however, many miles
above the earth kind of acting and as like the
you know, the gravity forces are whipping his face back.
It's amazing. It's extraordinary to watch him sort of do
(06:32):
that stuff. And and cheersday and he's gonna get an
honorary Oscar in February or March at the next Oscars.
And you know, Jay solely on the on the way
he's brought back the excitement of live stunts. Good for him, right, amazing, You're.
Speaker 1 (06:46):
Right, you're right on that. But it's a shame he
didn't get an acting Oscar. He's nominated four times, but
he should have won for Born on the fourth of July.
Speaker 2 (06:54):
Do you agree, totally agree, Born in the fourth July
or even Jerry maguire, Born in the fourth of July
is by far his greatest performance. And that's a phenomenal
Oliver Stone film. I think it's a really terrific film.
But I also think Jerry McGuire, you know, while the
rom con stuff is a little goofy, you know, playing
an actual character who's a person in the world, in
(07:14):
the in the present day. And I always say this
about people like Jack Lemon in the Apartment or you know,
somebody like Dustin Hoffman who got an oscar for Kramer
versus Kramer playing just a real guy and who he
doesn't have anything going on. There's no trick going on.
He's not, you know, trying to deal with a you know,
a you know, one leg or or you know he's
(07:34):
got two heads or something, or there's any cgi or something.
You know, he's an actual character, an actual person in
the world. Playing that kind of guy is really tough,
and he did a great in Jerry Maguire, So that's
another either one of those two roles he would have
deserved it.
Speaker 1 (07:48):
I have our connection is getting a little weird here
right now, Joe. I'm gonna say goodbye if that's okay,
and we'll talk to you again next week.
Speaker 2 (07:55):
Sounds good, Thanks Larry. Talking about to week
Speaker 1 (07:56):
Joe neumai Or film journalist wo R Movie Minute host
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
24/7 News: The Latest
The latest news in 4 minutes updated every hour, every day.
Crime Junkie
Does hearing about a true crime case always leave you scouring the internet for the truth behind the story? Dive into your next mystery with Crime Junkie. Every Monday, join your host Ashley Flowers as she unravels all the details of infamous and underreported true crime cases with her best friend Brit Prawat. From cold cases to missing persons and heroes in our community who seek justice, Crime Junkie is your destination for theories and stories you won’t hear anywhere else. Whether you're a seasoned true crime enthusiast or new to the genre, you'll find yourself on the edge of your seat awaiting a new episode every Monday. If you can never get enough true crime... Congratulations, you’ve found your people. Follow to join a community of Crime Junkies! Crime Junkie is presented by audiochuck Media Company.