{"id":2064,"date":"2019-11-14T09:00:29","date_gmt":"2019-11-13T22:00:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/batrock.net\/?p=2064"},"modified":"2019-11-13T21:32:21","modified_gmt":"2019-11-13T10:32:21","slug":"movie-review-ford-v-ferrari","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/batrock.net\/?p=2064","title":{"rendered":"Movie Review: Ford v Ferrari"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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It is true that cars used to be more aesthetically pleasing than they are now, but equally true that they would kill you for even so much as thinking about getting behind the wheel. Ford v Ferrari<\/em>, known internationally as Le Mans \u00e2\u20ac\u212266<\/em>, hearkens back to a golden age of engineering, when the most important thing an American man could do was make a car that could go for 24 hours without exploding to stick it to the Italians. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a simple concept and a simple film, but Ford v Ferrari <\/em>brings such talent to bear that it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s never far off exhilaration.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s the mid-sixties, and baby boomers have money to burn on cars. Ford decides to boost its sales by making the fastest car in the world, one to beat Ferrari. To that end, Vice President Lee Iacocca (Jon Bernthal, Netflix\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s The Punisher<\/em>) hires Carroll Shelby (Matt Damon, Suburbicon<\/em>) and driver Ken Miles (Christian Bale, Vice<\/em>) to build a car to take on the 24 Hours of Le Mans endurance race.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The main reason that anything about Ford v Ferrari <\/em>works is due to the sterling efforts of Bale, who eats every piece of scenery that is placed in his way. This portrayal of Miles, famous for his \u00e2\u20ac\u0153courtesy on the race track\u00e2\u20ac\u009d, may not necessarily be historically accurate, but Bale makes it outsize and ridiculous in a good way. The part, as written, is your traditional \u00e2\u20ac\u0153bad boy who is good at his job\u00e2\u20ac\u009d, but Bale oozes charisma in a way that he isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t often allowed. Even when the movie makes absolutely no sense, as in a pivotal argument between Miles and his wife (Caitriona Balfe, TV\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Outlander<\/em>) in a speeding car, Bale dominates his scenes and brings them in.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Damon, as the straight man, is more a part of the ensemble than Bale\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s equal. He doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t mind playing second fiddle and he does consistently good work with Tracy Letts as Henry Ford II. Josh Lucas (Breakthrough<\/em>) is so thoroughly loathsome as a Ford executive that Ford v Ferrari <\/em>can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t help hammering in its themes of rugged individualism.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s the tug-of-war at the heart of the script that is never resolved. Written by English brothers Jez Butterworth (TV\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Britannia<\/em>) and John-Henry Butterworth (Despite the Night<\/em>), with credit to original screenwriter Jason Keller (Escape Plan<\/em>), Ford v. Ferrari <\/em>can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t reconcile the concepts of a man standing alone to achieve great things and ruling by committee. Miles is instrumental to Shelby\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s plan, but because Ford doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t view him as a team player, we are to believe that teams are bad; we ignore the fact that Shelby has assembled his own crack team to get the GT-40 off the ground, which is essentially committee by another name. It comes down to men in suits versus men in grease stained overalls, but it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s an uneasy tension in the script \u00e2\u20ac\u201c and the nation. Otherwise Ford v. Ferrari <\/em>is light on overt displays of American pride, generally limiting itself to a single statement of \u00e2\u20ac\u0153it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not the first time Ford has gone to war in Europe\u00e2\u20ac\u009d. It sounds dumb, it is<\/em> dumb, Tracy Letts (TV\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Divorce<\/em>) can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t quite sell it, but it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s confined to one scene so it can just be forgiven.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Outside of Bale, Ford v Ferrari <\/em>excels in its driving scenes. Director James Mangold (Logan<\/em>), in his first film not beating up Hugh Jackman in years, has a firm communication of speed. The cars are impressive to look at and, though we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re never in danger of motion sickness, we can briefly feel like the object moving through space that Damon\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s narration describes. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not as transcendent as us and the road, but Mangold gets close to touching the sky. In a story formula so etched into stone that it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s incapable of surprising a viewer, Mangold and Bale rise above their material to make even the most dedicated pedestrian care about wheels in motion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ford v Ferrari <\/em>is a movie that you know the entire contents of before the title card even comes up, but it is so well crafted in its construction line assembly that you can forgive it almost anything. With Bale at remarkable ease and Damon showing a hint of vulnerability, Ford v Ferrari <\/em>is very definitely a product, but it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s one that gets the job done in style.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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