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Kerry Condon laps it up with Brad Pitt in F1: The Movie

Kerry Condon laps it up with Brad Pitt in F1: The Movie

RTÉ News​2 days ago

Brad Pitt may be behind the wheel, but Kerry Condon's in control of the gear box in this fun drama that's basically more a picture postcard than pit stop view of the F1 world.
You never know who you're going to bump into at a launderette. Even if you're Brad Pitt, playing a former Formula 1 driver who's now a four-wheel pilot for hire.
His name's Sonny Hayes – sounds like an inter-county hurler – and thirty years ago he was a young phenomenon in F1. That was until he crashed his car during a Grand Prix and suffered career-ending injuries.
Now, he's hitting 60, just completed a stint at the Daytona 500 and needs to do a spot of washing. Then an old pal walks in and offers him the ultimate offer of redemption: a return to the F1 circuit.
The old pal is Reuben Cervantes (played by Javier Bardem), a former F1 teammate who's now the owner of a struggling Formula 1 team.
The deal is that Sonny will co-drive with and mentor Joshua Pearce (Damson Idris), the team's hotshot rookie who needs an experienced head to guide him to greatness.
Initially, Sonny turns him down. But this is Hollywood. He turns up at the track and the fun begins.
Our own Kerry Condon pops up in the pivotal role of the team's technical director. She has a smile that could melt granite, but she's a tough girl from Thurles and won't take any crap from Sonny.
What follows is a fun, if pretty formulaic tale from the track (including a token insider 'baddie'), with some superb racing shots that put the viewer right behind the wheel.
As ever, Pitt plays his role with chummy blokiness and – aside from it being basically a promo vid for F1 – it's well worth a look in the company of something fizzy and a box of popcorn.
For added authenticity, filming took place during actual Grand Prix weekends, so it has a genuine feel to it, with the 'real F1 driver' likes of Lewis Hamilton – who is also a producer on the film – popping up and popping champagne.

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Simone Ashley may not have made the final cut of Brad Pitt's F1 movie, but she owned the premiere. What a star
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Simone Ashley may not have made the final cut of Brad Pitt's F1 movie, but she owned the premiere. What a star

It's been a glowing, slaying, spotlight-stealing and, I would say, all-round fabulous week for Simone Ashley , star of Bridgerton and Leicester Square, where she was photographed on Monday for the London premiere of F1 despite being cut from the film. I say cut, but 'cut' no longer cuts it. In today's hyperbolic world, the British actor has had her scenes 'brutally cut' by the film's director, prompting such measured social-media responses as 'f**k you, Joseph Kosinski'. Technically, there's still a trace of Ashley in F1. Featuring briefly – extremely briefly – in the time-honoured role of 'Self', she is one of several celebrities shown arriving at a grand prix to see if Sonny (played by Brad Pitt ) can manage to finish a single race without smashing up his car. 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In this post, inevitably reported as the actor 'breaking her silence', Ashley described it as 'a joy to reunite with the cast and crew' and celebrate the film in her hometown, adding that she 'couldn't have been prouder watching everyone shine on screen and on the carpet, all while wearing my couture @balmain gown that made me feel just as radiant'. There was more effusing, then an instruction to fans to 'Go see this movie!' – which they may well do, if only as a hate-watch. While a 'very, very small role' in F1 would have been nice, being cut from the film and making do with being 'just as radiant' on the red carpet is not a huge disaster, either Speaking of watches, and in something of a clue as to why she might have shown up, the Swiss luxury watch brand IWC Schaffhausen was tagged and prominently sported on her wrist. Indeed, IWC also gets more screen time than Ashley in the film. But, from her point of view, was her excision really that huge a career blow? Pushing back on the ever-so-slightly gleeful tone to the coverage of her axing, fans of nuance have been valiantly pointing out that the ditching of entire storylines is a normal part of film-making and is not necessarily, or even usually, a verdict on the actor's performance. Kosinski pointed out that 'you have to shoot more than you can use' and that Ashley's original 'very, very small role' as a 'mystery girl' whom Joshua, the driver played by Damson Idris, spies at races, was one of 'two or three' storylines that didn't make the final edit. Certainly, when you're watching F1, which has a runtime of two hours and 35 minutes, you don't think, 'What this film needs is a subplot in which the young hotshot has a crush on a random woman in the crowd.' 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Max Verstappen reveals why he snubbed Lewis Hamilton's F1 film red carpet in favour of changing smelly nappies
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Irish prodigy Alex Dunne gushes with emotion when he sees Dad after F1 debut
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