If there's one thing I will let you know about myself, it's that I'm not a fan of cars. I don't care about their specs, their design or even the desire to drive them. I just don't really care for them, unlike some friends and family members I know. So, aside from the talent that was attached to this film, I wasn't really into the premise. In 1963, the Ford Motor Company is experiencing diminished sales due to heavy competition from Ferrari. After a proposed deal for Ford and Ferrari to merge falls through, Henry Ford II orders a sports car that will beat the Italian company at Le Mans, a racing competition that requires racers to drive for 24 straight hours and earn the most laps. Ford enlists Carroll Shelby to construct the Ford GT40, who Shelby brings his friend, Ken Miles, to not only help in designing the car itself, but to be the one in the driver's seat in Le Mans, to which a vice president and Ford himself refuse to allow due to Miles not fitting the "American image". Although one would believe that the racing would be the only entertaining aspect of the film, I actually thought that the smaller moments and the sequences where Shelby and Miles try to build the sports cars were really interesting, which is surprising considering my disinterest for cars in general. I think the strength is that the script and dialogue is really good in making both experts and general moviegoers to both grasp and get hooked into. It's really the character interactions that really work in making the film stand out. The tone however can be a bit odd at times. Although the film takes itself really serious for the most part considering it's based off true events, there's a surprising amount of comedy involved. While most of the jokes and situations are funny, it's jarring for this particular film. On top of that, there's some awkward dialogue here and there along with an odd scene where Miles's wife is driving recklessly just so Miles can tell her that he's planning to work with Shelby. Sometimes, the scenes blur the realism at times, but I think it's, for the most part, effective in trying to make the viewer entertained in an otherwise slow-paced film. Besides, the scenes aren't extremely over-the-top or jarring, they just seem a bit unusual despite the somewhat naturalism behind them. Despite what I said, I really love the fight between Shelby and Miles that comes across as childish and pathetic to the latter's wife.
Matt Damon as Shelby is pretty good as the eccentric yet somewhat reckless car designer and former racer. Damon shines in both the dramatic and comedic moments of the film, although he can say a pretty bad line on occasion. Christen Bale however kills it as Miles, the British mechanic and aspired racer. Not only does Bale look like the real-life counterpart, but he's fully let loose to be this hotheaded, goofball who has a good heart and just wants to make his son proud of him in during his racing. Anytime Bale is onscreen, the film is just extremely memorizing and the chemistry between him and the people in his life such as Shelby are just wholesome to watch due to how Bale buys into the character and performance. From then on, there's an assortment of side characters that carry some importance to the story along with a great performer attached to them. There's Jon Bernthal as Lee lacocca, the vice president of Ford who was the one to suggest the company to race in Le Mans, Caitriona Balfe as Mollie Miles, the supportive and concerned wife of Ken, Tracy Letts as Henry Ford II, the CEO of the Ford Company and an uptight business man, Noah Jupe as Peter Miles, Ken's son who idolizes his father and roots for him to win every race, Josh Lucas as Leo Beebe, the douchebag executive who butts heads with Shelby for him pushing Miles as the driver, and Remo Girone as Enzo Ferrari, the founder of the self-named company who's highly confident in his cars to once again win the Le Mans. The cast is generally great in their roles and all of the characters tend to feel human. Even the more questionable characters such as Ford, Ferrari and Beebe are just acting the way they are in the hopes of preserving their careers, not because they just want to do bad things on purpose. It's really the performance by Bale that stands out the most, and it's a shame he didn't even get nominated for an Oscar for his role as Ken Miles.
James Mangold is rising up to be one of the most prestigious directors and screenwriters in the industry, despite only really getting recognition in the past decade or so. His films tend to have a more gritty, humanistic approach in terms of the tone, story, and characters. Another thing that I particularly love about his films is how he recreates or constructs the settings of his films. The 1963 setting is exceptionally brought to life from the cars being driven, the technology being shown, the clothes that the characters wear, and even the dialogue that is being said feels appropriate to the time period. Although I'm particularly not a huge fan of the dated lines that Shelby or Miles say every now and then, I can't deny that it doesn't fit in the setting. I also love the use of natural lighting during the exterior shots as the California setting allows great, sunny daytime scenes as well as some pleasant-looking sunset/nighttime scenes. The cinematography by Phedon Papamichael is also fantastic, mainly by the choice of angles and feel of intensity during the race sequences. Even during the non-racing sequences, there's a sense of grandeur and beauty to the camerawork with certain exterior shots of the Californian landscape really building a sense of atmosphere along with long takes and close-ups of the characters to allow their emotions to speak out without much dialogue. The score by Marco Beltrami is underwhelming though as I can barely recall any original composing aside from the dramatic music during the end. With that said, Mangold instead relayed more on a licensed soundtrack that helps establish the 1963 backdrop to its max potential. The racing sequences are praised all across the board from the editing, audio, and sense of stakes. I particularly love the low-angle shots and the iconography of the hub caps igniting whenever the brakes start to fail, it's visually outstanding. However, I do find the ending of the film to be a bit sloppy as it tends to overstay its welcome. I personally feel that the film needed to end after Miles died in the accident in order to be an effective shock of emotion for the viewer, but they tack in Shelby being distressed and him visiting Peter, which, while decent scenes, really hold the viewer hostage for a few unnecessary minutes for an already long movie. Regardless, Mangold is still a director on the rise that will lead an outstanding legacy in Hollywood for years to come.
"Ford v Ferrari" is an extremely solid, sports biopic that manages to make the process of building a racing/sports car interesting for those who never cared for automobiles. While the tone is a bit unbalanced at times with the humour, the few lines of dialogue that sound awkward and laughable, Beltrami's score being barely noticeable, and the ending overstaying its welcome a bit, it's hard to deny that the film is very effective both in terms of its quality and entertainment value. The script and dialogue, for the most part, is easy to follow for those who don't care for the car industry nor the real events that inspired the film, the character moments are just as fun to watch as the racing sequences because of said script, the comedy is nice despite its odd implementation, Bale gives out an excellent and loveable performance as Miles, the rest of the cast, both leads and side characters, feel both natural in their performances and involved in the story despite their screen presence, Papamichael's cinematography is brilliantly shot, the soundtrack is nicely implemented for the setting, and Mangold puts all of his effort in making both the racing sequences as engaging and well-made along with the setting of 1963 California being both lively and nice to look at in regards to the exterior scenes. It's really something special when a talented filmmaker can manage to make a film on an otherwise uninteresting story for some and turn it into both a fun film to watch and a great standard for biopic and sports films to boot.
Verdict: 8/10. A few issues could have been tuned up, but it still works pretty well. A recommended watch and a film that deserved far more nominations during the Oscars.
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