Ford v Ferrari Review

        You may have noticed that I skipped a film when discussing racing movies. I really wanted to discuss Ron Howard’s Rush, but I feel that I didn’t want the whole month to be ostensibly gushing over Formula 1. It is good so don’t get me wrong. Maybe I’ll reserve it when I dedicate a month of Ron Howard sometime this year. With that, no surprise that I wanted to discuss this one with James Mangold directing it. When reading the announcement and seeing the trailer, I hoped and prayed that the film would be good. And I was proven right. 

1. Carroll and Shelby

        With a title like Ford v Ferrari, one would assume that it be a corporate movie where there’s no humanity but just a 2 hour film of the Ford Motor Company patting themselves on a back by beating Ferrari in a 24 hour relay race. Well, it’s partially true but what really excels the movie from a corporate slop is the camaraderie between two guys. We follow racer Ken Miles and Carroll Shelby as they collaborate on building a race car that would compete with Ferrari’s. 

        That’s practically the very simplified plot of the film. The overall meat and potatoes of it is really engrossing since we see where the two men are coming from. The characterizations of the men makes them endearing and empathetic of where they’re coming from. I like how Shelby has the maverick mentality where he can be a confident guy, while also maneuvering through the bureaucracy of the Ford company. We see his introduction where he was a driver but had to quit due to medical reasons. 

        Matt Damon excels as Shelby since he does most of the heavy lifting to get the story moving from Ford’s hesitancy to finally taking the initiative. Christian Bale practically steals the show as he portrays the late Ken Miles. For a good while, I thought Bale was an American since he would nail down his accent perfectly as Patrick Bateman and as Bruce Wayne. So colored me flustered when we hear him in a distinct British accent. It’s not distracting in the least bit, but his characterization is that he’s a salt of the earth kind of guy who understands cars. 

        We see him as he truly understands what makes a car work, right down to telling Shelby and the other mechanics the little aspects that is slowing down the Ford GT40. I think it would’ve been better to see him in the beginning as a dedicated racer. Although, I can understand that the film didn’t want to be ostensibly about him. The best moment I think in the film is when he and his wife get into an argument about what Ken’s been doing. It’s the kind of argument where Ken tells her just how much he’s being paid and the indecision he faces, prompts her and us to be like “Take it!”.

        Lastly, I like the moments between Ken and his son. While there’s not a lot that would make us mentally droll, I like that Ken is a good guy when it comes to his family. His son is as passionate about racing as he is. To the point where he gives him a ride on the GT40. I think that’s what makes Ken very endearing for the general audience who had no clue who he was and giving us a glimpse of a humble guy who’s cinematic representation of a salt of the earth kind of man. 

        I feel that this is a prime example of a comfort movie where it literally has the cylinders firing with the supporting cast contributing more. I think it was a choice to show just how much of an inflexible person Henry Ford II was, and how stubborn his assistant was when he wanted a picturesque look into how the company wanted the team to be represented in the race. In some way I like the fact that the film focused on the company first and then transitioning to Carrol and Ken putting in the work. I’ll talk about cars, don’t you worry. Anyways, I think the best scene involving the corporate brass is when Shelby takes Ford II on a ride in the GT40. 

        All of it feels like a gradual buildup where Ford feels that he’s wasting money on the project. Moreover, he tries to block off his assistant from interfering in the meeting. The moment inside the car is great since we see Shelby showing Ford II the power that the supercar has. It’s a mix of emotions that Henry feels with freight, exhilaration and emotional with how he confided to Shelby that he wishes his Dad can see and feel it if he were alive. This movie is so great that I can’t put it into more words.

2. Racing

        The expectation that the film had is that the racing had to be exhilarating. And show just how fast the GT40 can be a Ferrari in the confines of the 60s. It’s fast but we see just how fast it is and how Ken Miles among others helped make it do what it was supposed to do. And before we see it in action at Le Mans, we see how the other race sequences in the movie gradually give us what we want to see. At first we see Carroll when he’s racing and then transition to him seeing Miles racing in a small circuit. 

        All of it again is a gradual buildup to when we see Miles suiting up and racing at the 24 hour relay race. I think the one moment of speed is shown is when we see Ken and his wife get at it. While Ken is a huge car freak, he gets scared that his wife is flooring it in their family car. That was a good laugh with a payoff that couldn’t have been scripted better. The overall race in Le Mans is the reason why the film has us right where it got us. Just the level of excitement where the racers had to run to their cars and start it, all the while avoiding the others to get going was unexpected. 

        When talking about these films, one has to mention that the sound is clearly the audio star. The film won an Academy Award for it, and I couldn’t imagine having a pricy home theater setup where the whole walls and the house shake as the rumbles and roars of the cars zooming by. Additionally, I like how the racing was shot too with sometimes having the camera being stationary and we see the GT40 rapidly coming in and darting out of view. More so with Ken being in the zone and trying to advance upward to the rankings.

3. Overall

        Ford v Ferrari is one of James Mangold’s best films and one of the best films of the 2010s.