MOVIE REVIEW By Lucas Allen: ‘Ford v Ferrari’ gets the checkered flag

Ford v Ferrari
(20th Century Fox)

By Lucas Allen

Now that we are full blown into awards season, we have titles this fall like “Joker,” and “Judy,” which have graced the screens with crowd pleasing, audience and critical acclaim. Another title joining the pack is “Ford v Ferrari,” which is based on a true story of a historic sports moment that’s also a battle between two rival motor companies. The movie is directed by James Mangold, fresh off bringing the successful X-Men series to a close with the Oscar-nominated “Logan.”
It’s the 1960s, and the Ford Motor Company is facing a sales slump in their automobile business. Sales manager Lee Iacocca (Jon Bernthal) tries convincing CEO Henry Ford II (Tracy Letts) that working with Ferrari and making a new race car will help boost company morale. But when Enzo Ferrari (Remo Girone) rejects the offer and sells the company to Fiat. Ford takes it upon himself to design the company’s own race car and challenge the Italian magnate.
The designer of choice is ex-racer Carroll Shelby (Matt Damon), whose heart problem has him retiring early to design race cars. His main driver is racing champion Ken Miles (Christian Bale), who also has a side job as an auto-repair guy, supporting his wife (Caitriona Balfe) and son (Noah Jupe).
But while Shelby has the will to get the job done, Miles’ gung-ho personality puts him at odds with Ford’s corporate magnate Leo Bebee (Josh Lucas). Despite some setbacks, both Shelby and Miles put aside their differences to try to perfect the fastest car to put Ferrari in their place. Once they complete the design, they bring it to France for the country’s annual 24-hour Le Mans Championship and try to bring Ferrari to its knees.
The movie strikes a unique balance between drama, comedy and action, with a very good story that’s both entertaining and fascinating. There’s lots of automobile jargon said throughout, but it won’t be a big distraction from enjoying the movie. When we get to the climatic 24-hour race, the movie becomes a non-stop action/drama with amazing filmmaking techniques used to make the racing scenes look as authentic as possible. But when you get to the very controversial ending of it, you’ll be left confused by the actual outcome until you look it up online. But despite how it ended, this is the kind of movie that excites you all the way through.
While the movie surely has its action-packed moments, it’s still a character piece at the forefront. It’s all about the little one striving to take on the bigger guy and the skill and will of achieving the impossible. Though the characters have different, conflicted personalities, you understand each of their motivations and their needs. Naturally, these characters were real people and they seem to reflect what the real world offers between the 1960s and today.
Both Damon and Bale work very well together, which makes it perfectly far from being considered Bourne V Batman. The former seems to be imitating his Jason Bourne co-star Tommy Lee Jones by changing his Boston accent into a Texas draw, while the latter thickens his British accent to the point that he sounds more southern and Scottish combined. But if you can get past their faux way of speaking, they deliver very believable performances that helps add to the film’s appeal. The rest of the cast are also very good with Letts, Bernthal, and Lucas offer different outlooks on how the corporate world thinks.
Thanks to the brilliant work of the cast and crew, “Ford V Ferrari” could possibly be the best racing film since “Rush.” It may have all the trappings of “Oscar bait,” but the great work by the filmmakers put it well above that notion. Once you see it in the theater, make sure your seat comes with safety belts.
THE MOVIE’S RATING: PG-13 (for some language and peril)
THE CRITIC’S RATING: 3.5 Stars (Out of Four)