2019 | Dir. James Mangold | 152 Minutes
"We're lighter, we're faster. And if that don't work, we're nastier."
Based on the real life exploits of Carroll Shelby and Ken Miles, Ford v Ferrari is first and foremost a thrilling car movie featuring spectacularly staged racing sequences that are so authentic they stop just short of placing the audience behind the wheel. While the film depicts Carroll Shelby as a true visionary and all-around stand up guy, the story focuses primarily on Ken Miles, building much of his character around his relationships with Shelby, Miles' wife Mollie, and their son Peter. Director James Mangold does a fantastic job of making Miles' triumphs and failures behind the wheel feel deeply personal. Riding beside Miles on his quest for the perfect lap, it's absolutely exhilarating whenever he passes the competition on the racetrack and it's just as mortifying in moments when he loses control of his vehicle. The physical intensity of sitting inside a race car is amusingly depicted in one sequence where Shelby drives on the test track with Henry Ford II riding along in the passenger seat, reducing the pompous CEO to tears. The picture also spends a significant amount of time detailing the nitty-gritty process of crafting a race car but it manages to remain engaging throughout, a testament to Mangold's talent as a director.
In a fascinating way, Ford v Ferrari also functions as a sincere treatise against the petty corporate egos at play in the world of racing and, by extension, in any profitable artistic line of work. Though the Shelby and Miles are financed by Ford, the corporate stooges are decidedly not portrayed as heroes in any way shape or form, and in fact serve more as antagonists than even the Ferrari racing team. With more depth than it would seem, the picture is a captivating watch through and through. Where the film falls short is in its inconsistent depiction of Mollie, alternating between unconditionally supportive of her husband's dreams and stubborn shrew, serving more as a superfluous addition to the plot than an actual character.
Matt Damon is a natural fit as the shrewd car designer Carroll Shelby but Christian Bale truly steals the film as racer/engineer Ken Miles. Playing charismatic difficult men is practically second nature to Bale and though it he may not be at his flashiest playing Miles, he brings a fun and affecting earnestness to the role. Caitriona Balfe turns in a fine performance as Mollie despite the script-level shortcomings of the role. The rest of the supporting roles are perfectly filled by Noah Jupe as young wide-eyed Peter Miles, Tracy Letts as curmudgeon Henry Ford II, Jon Bernthal as outspoken Ford vice president Lee Iacocca, and Josh Lucas as an amalgamation of seemingly every terrible corporate executive ever.
Ford v Ferrari is an extraordinarily entertaining crowd-pleaser, an inspirational sports film that should prove to be appealing even for those completely unfamiliar with the intricacies of motorsports. The visceral mind-blowing racing sequences are naturally the real highlight of the feature but the surprisingly anti-corporate human story at its heart is also rather affecting.
FRAGMENTS
- The film was released as Le Mans '66 outside of North America
- Formerly titled Go Like Hell with Joseph Kosinski attached to direct, Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt were considered for the roles of Carroll Shelby and Ken Miles
- To portray the lean Miles, within seven months Christian Bale lost 70 pounds, much of the weight he gained to play Dick Cheney in Vice
- Tracey Letts also appears in 2020 Best Picture Nominee Little Women
MCU CONNECTIONS
- Matt Damon (Asgardian Actor playing Loki in Thor: Ragnarok and Thor: Love and Thunder)
- Christian Bale (Gorr in Thor: Love and Thunder)
