Ford v Ferrari

Plot: Ford enlists card designer Carroll Shelby (Matt Damon) and driver Ken Miles (Christian Bale) to build a car with Ford that could with the 24 hour race in LeMans. Shelby has to play politics with Ford executives, while somewhat anti-social Ken Miles needs to make-nice with Ford to keep his job as a driver.  [imdb]    [photos]

Review: Ford v Ferrari is not a racing story or even a US vs Europe story. It is about Shelby and Miles competing and winning. They struggle with each other, with Ford and with Ferrari's racing.

Christian Bale inhabits the character of Ken Miles and makes him a trouble and realist man. This is the heart of the movie. Shelby is more conventional, and well-acted, but it is not as flashy a performance.

I think the Ford executives were too cartoony, that is, they were simple-minded corporate bad guys to serve as minor villains. 

Cast: Matt Damon, Christian Bale, Caitriona Balfe

Directed by: James Mangold

Written by: Jez Butterworth, John-Henry Butterworth, Jason Keller

The Music: OK

The Visuals: The racing scenes were believable and exciting. Some of the race cars themselves seemed cool and fun. 

Rating: 3.5 stars: Well made, but not touching on universal themes 

More: Here are the real Shelby and Miles

Even More: Director Mangold said in IndieWire that:

 On “Ford v Ferrari,” Mangold and his team worked hard in pre-production on figuring out how to stage and shoot racing scenes where the cars and camera reached near-racing speeds — never the 200mph that the real-life cars and drivers the film was based on reached, but getting up into the 140 to 170 mph range when necessary. The reason for this was as much about the performances, specifically Christian Bale’s, as it was about achieving the visceral practical action Mangold loves.

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