And now on Overnight's Entertainment with Alex. First time to entertain you with Alex Versta, Film theater and entertainment reviewer and editor of I Tell You What I Think dot Com. Good morning, How are you?
I'm well, Thank you, Mike and your good self.
Mustn't grumble as they say. You've been to see F one with Brad Pitt.
Very exciting, This is well, I can't think of any movie that's had more publicity leading up to its launch than this one in twenty twenty five. And I suppose I'll start with a question because we spoke a few weeks ago about Tom Cruise and we said there's no actor on the planet that seems to generate more publicity and has done such a good job in terms of getting bumbs on seats. Well, I suppose there is a rival, and if there is one, it's the star of F one,
Brad Pitt. Two of them are very similar in age.
How old are they?
Well? Pitt would be sixty one.
And I ah, really that old? Yeah? Yeah?
And he looks damn fine, as does Tom. Cruise is sixty two.
Amazing.
Both made a lot of movies. They've been very successful, and you can bank them, which is why studios love having them in their court. And look, f one, I suppose you somebody who follows Formula one motor racing or do you like speed full stop?
The second would be yes, that can be a bit of fun. But the answer to the first, I don't follow it religiously, as they say, but if it happens to be on TV, I'll quite often watch it. I think it's exciting just to go back to this movie, though. Is Havier Bardem the bad guy?
Not the bad guy is a guy who plays a prominent role because he is the head of a team, which is a team that's been manufactured for this particular movie. But I suppose, look, there'd be a lot of people out there who would have seen the docos about Formula one got involved in it in that way, and others who are just petrol heads. Now, there have been some really good movies made about motor racing. Probably Ford versus Ferrari is the one.
Great movie stands out. Really enjoyed it, really enjoyed it. Yeah, it was fabulous.
And they've spent a lot of time and a lot of money on this particular film, not just in marketing, but in terms of making it, and one of the things that apparently happened is they shot a lot of it in practice sessions and basically they intertwine the actors with the real life f one stars, which is just a great way to make a movie because you've got.
As time as you can't tell as long as you can't spot the intertwining.
No, and you can't. It's so natural. Look, it looks brilliant. It is a superb looking movie. It's also two hours thirty five minutes long, so we'll get to that in a few minutes. But it's the old and the new butting heads. That's the contention here, and it's tense, it's exciting. It's really a motor racing thrill ride, which is great. That's exactly what you go to the cinema forore with some.
Human drama thrown in. I guess, oh yeah.
A lot of that, Mike, And basically you've got an almost Formula One champion from more than thirty years ago, prevailed upon the return to the sport that almost killed him.
There you go, you try to get out, and they drag you back in again.
Correct, Well, I suppose when you're thinking about it, I suppose you'd say that Brad pitt would be a fifty something year old in this movie. They don't specify, but that's my best guesstimate. Now, I can't imagine anybody driving a Formula one motor racing car at that age, right, Paul.
Human picked up motor racing in an advanced stage.
Yeah, but Formula one.
I don't think he was quite that.
But no, I'm not doubting that you can in certain divisions. But I suppose by that age of reflexes would be slowing down somewhat. That's the only thing I'm thinking of. So look as a contention, no worries. As a movie, I'm not sure that it could be replicated in real life, not that that matters. The guy, obviously who's the older head is Brad Pitts carry to Sonny Hayes, and he had talent and smarts to burn, and then there was a tragic accident that cut his career short way back
when so with so much promise. Unfortunately, thereafter it all fell apart for him. He gambled away his money at a series of failed relationships, a couple of marriages and another relationship, and he carries with him the mental and physical scars.
But we do love a comeback, don't we, Alex Oh do we?
What right? It makes good move fodder overall. And fortunately he wasn't lost to the motorsport industry entirely because he now lives hand to mouth in a van, thank you very much, and he picks up course, he does, and he picks up paychecks at lower levels. He just claim the Daytona twenty four hour race.
I'm not really laughing about people who are living rough. I'm just thinking for the idea of Brad Pitt doing, got to separate the actor from the role he is.
You do absolutely well basically what happens to the character. Sonny Hayes is his former teammate, and obviously if you're a teammate or arrival in F one, his name is Reuben. That's the Javier Bardam character. He comes knocking and he's now owner of a struggling Formula One team which has not has not been in the top ten of finishes in any of the races in the three years that he's been at the Helm. Well, it's at least two and a half years, because there's nine races left in the current season.
So we've got our Samson versus Goliath, yes, correct.
And the boards plotting to remove the Javier Bardam character's name is Ruben unless he can break through in those final nine races. The odd odds are stacked really voluntruly against him and against the cocky rookie League driver that he has, a guy called Joshua Pears played by Danson Idris.
With this little classic storytelling, isn't it Because you've got to have a deadline apart from anything else, Yes, one hundred.
It's like the countdown clock very much so like Mission Impossible, the same thing. You've got a finite amount of time. You don't get there, you basically die. Well, in this case, you'll lose your team apparently is three hundred and fifty million dollars in the red. That's a bit of a us. That's a bit of a problem anyway. In desperation, he turns to the tactically clever Sonny Hayes, the Brad Pitt character, and we find out that he's the ninth choice. Is
knocked on a lot of doors so far. Oh and it looks really it's tackling the seemingly impossible and pit character becomes the team's second driver and will help educate Joshua Pierce, the young guy. Right, So, look, it's a decidedly unconventional approach that Sonny Hayes has to Formula one motor racing, and basically that's going to lead to all sorts of clashes within his team and between drivers and
so on. And the questions then, does Sonny Hayes still have what it takes and are they the team prepared to listen to him?
Well, we don't want smooth sailing, do we, Alex, Because you know, the more that our protagonist has to face by way of obstacles and unforeseen grama, the better we like it.
Well that's the reason it runs for two hours thirty five minutes, right, I mean, let's be honest, and it is visually arresting, no question about it. Claudio Miranda, who did Top Gun Maverick, he was the cinematographer. He's done it. He's done it again. He's just superb in terms of what he the takes and he's just absorbed by it, which is great. And the production designed by Ben Monroe as well outstanding. So they capture the excitement, they really
do of the Formula one racing circuit. And the costuming is great too. I've got to say Jullian Days responsible a lot of style, a lot of elegance. I mean, if you've seen the shorts for this, or you know the trailer, you can see that there's spent a lot of time getting authenticity.
And I think that's great, sounds pretty good. What do you give it?
Well, look, the characterizations are really good. And also Hans Zimmer who you might have heard of, it's his score. Music is terrific, ratchets up the tension and a lot of push pull in between many parties. Looks I would put it right up there with Ford versus Ferrari. Substantive, top tier motor racing movie. Perhaps a little bit it could have been pared back a little bit without losing an eating of substance, but still commended seven and a half to eight out of ten, M rated F one.
It is called, it.
Sounds to me like I'd like to go see it. What about Riviera Revenge, Well.
Okay, this is a fascinating story because it's based on a contention that the director read and it was in a newspaper, and it concerns and he's both The writer and the director's name is Yvonne or Ivan I'm not sure which one, albarak. And it's a movie about well, it's based on a ninety two year old This is in Italy. It happened a few years ago. A ninety two year old Sicilian discovered love letters addressed to his wife dating back more than seventy years. Now, that in itself, okay, well,
that's great. The problem is that at the time he was already married to.
Her, and so the love letters are from him, and she's married to him. The time is correct.
So now what actually happened in real life is that even though he's ninety two, and even though this happened more than seventy years ago, he could not forgive his wife for the adultery, so he filed for divorce. And obviously the writer and director read this and said, oh my golly, what a great contention for a movie.
And the judge said why now after all this time, and he said enough already, yeah, yeah.
Well that The fascinating part is that the director has still said, well, hang on, am I going to have a ninety two year old protagonist, and he's made him a useful seventy five.
Really cheated on his age exactly.
Francois is the guy's name, played by Andre de Solier, and he's a former military man and he lives life on his terms and he's married to any and that marriage has been going for ages. She was nineteen when they were first to wed, and they've got three grown up children. Now. The eldest of them has followed his dad into the armed forces. And there's a family gathering to mark his mum's birthday, and that's when the eldest
child his wife reveal they're expecting their fifth child. The other four girls, so the dad, Francois, makes it clear to be nice to break the pattern. And the other kids, they've all got a few dad favors the eldest and let's say the other two kids aren't too happy about that. Middle child has been keeping a secret from a straight
life dad, namely the fact that she's a lesbian. And then the youngest of them is artistic and he's actually a professional marianettist, so Papa Tier, but his dad has never been to one of his shows because he doesn't sort of really, he's not into the arts. He's not interested in even vaguely despite the fact that he has has son. So he've got all sorts of problems in
terms of the family dynamic. France Waba. Dad was clearing boxes in the attic and he discovers a pile of old love letters written to any ten years into their marriage. Because it's immediately clear to him that his wife has been having an affair or was, he goes apoplectics, doesn't he go totally betrayed, and to make matters worse, and he had it off with one of their friends.
Oh dear, oh dear, So he's been doubly let down my wife and the friend.
Exactly, And of course he has to confront the friend, and the wife decides to go along for the ride. And you can imagine what goes on as a result of all that. Extreme measures are taken and so on. So look, the revelations just keep on coming. It's a feel good They've done it as a rom com right, which has been inspired by fact, but I think they've liberally diverged from what the true story was. Nevertheless, the concept is a very very good one. I did enjoy it.
And having said that, the film maintains a light touch throughout It uses jealousy and intransigence as rather powerful tools, and also of contrasting characters, because there's the husband and wife. They're very different to one another, the husband and the two youngest of his children, and then the wife and her laid back former lover.
Oh my goodness, so Alex, to paraphrase the Russell Crowe character, were we entertained?
We were entertained. I just thought the Andre de Solier, the lead character, full of bombast and indignity as Frans who are exactly what you would want. And then you've got the sort of softly, softly wife, and then she starts to push back, good on her for doings though, and of course you've got that lover, the former lover, who is as relaxed as you can possibly get. And
the children will each showcase they're rather sensitive personas. So look, the production design on the film shot by the way in the south of France, so it ain't half bad to look at. It is one of the features the production design. Some stunning settings inside and out, and it's exuberant Rivera revengers, it's mad capped, it's enjoyable, it's an easy watcher, it's a good excuse to sort of sit down and have a bit of fun. And it only runs for ninety four minutes and it's rated M, so
well worth a look. You're gonna have a bit of fun with it. Seven and a half out of ten for rivera A Revenge the.
Dubble R Alex, thank you for that. That's Alex first, and Alex is a film and theater and entertainment reviewer and editor of I Tell You What I Think dot com.