Ford v Ferrari

“We're lighter, we're faster, and if that don't work, we're nastier.”

Filmology Rating: 3.5 out of 4

Ford v Ferrari is James Mangold's most recent film and Matt Damon and Christian Bale spear-head the film.

American car designer, Carroll Shelby (Matt Damon), and driver, Ken Miles (Christian Bale) battle corporate interference and their own personal demons to build a revolutionary race car for Ford and challenge Ferrari at the twenty-four hours of Le Mans in 1966 when Ford was facing a lull in production.

The reason this film is so universally appealing is because it's about characters and interpersonal relationships rather than just the racing aspect. It's similar to 'Rocky' in that you don't need to like boxing to like the film.

Christian Bale probably stole every scene he was in. He's finally allowed to unleash his full British vernacular and it leads to a lot of hilarious scenes between himself and Matt Damon who have absolutely terrific interplay.

It being two and a half hours, it doesn't feel long at all because the film does a good job, very early on, at presenting a large end-goal. That being Ford taking on Ferrari at Le Mans. So the film never feels like it drags at any point because it tells the audience exactly where the film is going and that allows for lots of build-up to that climactic race where more is at stake than just Ford taking on Ferrari.

This film isn't really about Ford taking on Ferrari, which is why the film works. Could you imagine a film about two corporations just butting heads? "Oh, I hope this billion-dollar corporation wins over the other!" No, it's more so about Carroll Shelby (Damon) and Ken Miles (Bale). Miles is the gun-ho cowboy who's a very good racer, while Shelby is managing the building of Ford's race car. Shelby is the middle man between the big suits of Ford and the down-and-dirty workers. Ford doesn't like Ken Miles because he doesn't represent their "image and brand" well so they continuously try getting rid of him, but Shelby ensures that a car can't be driven just by anyone. They need a real driver.

It was very interesting just to see how these two characters take on a micromanaging corporation. It's very similar to movie-making today and found the commentary to be on just that. But, at its core, this is a film about friendship. And this film is full of cliches like the evil company man and the hot-head character. But all of it is so well-handeled to where nothing seemed one dimensional like a Roland Emmerich film. Everyone has plenty of depth and characters are understood. Even the evil corporate man who sits beside Henry Ford just wants to play it safe as he thinks about the company. I can understand that. But my one critique is with Jon Bernthal who has a huge role in the first act, but as the film progresses, his role is reduced quite significantly to the point where he's pretty much an extra who occasionally gets an insert shot where he smirks at the camera because he's secretly rooting for Shelby.

This is also a hilarious film. Bale is one of the few actors working today where it feels like he's a real person in the film and not just actor-man playing a wacky character. Him and Damon both do such an outstanding job at delivering comedy that doesn't feel thrown-in for the sake of having a joke. It feels like something these characters would do.

I was not very excited to see this film because I'm of not much of a car-head. However the way this film presents racing and cars and this huge world that is just that, it makes you see why people love racing. It truly was enlightening. It communicates that thrill of going fast to an audience that may not quite understand. So even if you're not much of a car-head, you will thoroughly enjoy this film as I did.

This is one of those films where you forget you're watching a film and you gladly fall into the hands of Mangold who takes you on a thrilling ride that had me chewing off the end of my pen at the end of the film. This is a terrific film and easily one of the most enjoyable films in recent months.

Rating: See It

-Nolan