Ford v Ferrari (2019)

Director: James Mangold

Story: Jez Butterworth, John-Henry Butterworth, and Jason Keller

Cast: Christian Bale, Matt Damon

Music: Marco Beltrami, Buck Sanders

Time: 152 minutes

Bottom-line: A script that moves as fast as the race cars involved

After being swept off my feet by Ron Howard’s Rush, I never thought another racing film could beat that experience, but Ford v Ferrari comes very close to doing so. The film is based on the true story of how Ford builds a race car to contest in the 24-hour Le Mans racing event, with the intention of beating Ferrari. Christian Bale and Matt Damon play the lead roles, with Jon Bernthal, Caitriona Balfe, Noah Jupe and Josh Lucas in the supporting cast.

There’s a point, 7000 RPM, where everything fades. The machine becomes weightless, it just disappears. And all that’s left is a body moving through space and time. 7000 RPM, that’s where you meet it. It creeps up near you, and it asks you a question. The only question that really matters. Who are you?

1963: Ford Motor Company VP, Lee Iacocca (Bernthal) proposes to Henry Ford II that Ford should enter racing. They plan to buy Ferrari but get turned down in a humiliating fashion. Enraged, Ford decides to make their own car and beat Ferrari at the Le Mans circuit. For this, Ford hires 1959 Le Mans winner Carroll Shelby (Damon), who, in turn, hires the hot-tempered, arrogant British mechanic/driver Ken Miles (Bale). While Miles is obviously talented, Ford Senior VP Leo Beebe (Lucas) thinks Miles is not a “Ford man” and does not want him on the team. How Ford goes on to make the GT-40 and what happens in the famous 1966 Le Mans form the rest of the story.

 

Bale as Miles and Balfe as Mollie

7000+. Go like hell.

Just a bit of history here: Ferrari was the winner of Le Mans from 1960 to ‘65. Ford does win the 1966 Le Mans (as you can guess already), and also the 1967, ‘68 and ‘69 races. Ford became the only American manufacturer to win the race. Miles was posthumously inducted into the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America in 2001. The film also gives a glimpse of the 1964 Le Mans and the 1966 “24 Hours of Daytona” races, and a significant amount of time is given to portraying instances from Ken’s personal life (Balfe plays his wife, Mollie, and Jupe plays his son, Peter). The script is quite crisp because it focuses only on the essence of all the major incidents but still gives a coherent story.

 

Damon as Shelby

This isn’t the first time Ford Motor’s gone to war with Europe. We know how to do more than push paper.

Christian Bale – the man known for his incredible weight losses and gains for his roles on screen – now puts on a British accent as a new challenge. The chemistry between Bale and Damon is so good that you’d wonder why they haven’t done more films together in the past. The scenes where Miles throws a wrench at Shelby, and the one where they fight outside Miles’s house are hilarious moments to look out for. My favourite scene is when Shelby directs Miles to race above 7000 RPM during the Daytona race. Among the others, Josh Lucas is my pick. I’m not sure if there was a real-life counterpart for the role of Beebe, but Lucas does so well to portray a character so selfish and manipulative that you’ll definitely feel like slapping him (both cheeks too!).

 

Ken Miles (left) and Carroll Shelby in real life

The film is also excellent on the technical front, with the race sequences shot to perfection, with the sound level being just right (not too loud but not too soft that you don’t feel the thrill). With a dash of dry humour – thanks to Miles’ character in particular – a lot of action, and sublime acting by the Bale-Damon duo, Ford v Ferrari is certainly a racing film that will stand out from the rest, as well as being a memorable throwback to the legacy of Ford.   

My Rating: 4/5

Rotten Tomatoes rating: 92%