Ford v Ferrari
I don’t care much about cars whether they’re Ford or Ferrari’s. I skipped out on Ford v Ferrari initially, hoping that it wouldn’t get any nominations this year, allowing me to save myself two hours of what I assumed would be cars zooming around a track. It was, of course, nominated for Best Picture for the Oscars cementing my fate. I settled in for the two hours, thanking the film gods that I could at leasy enjoy Matt Damon and Christian Bale’s acting chops even if I wasn’t interested in the cars.
After watching Ford v Ferrari I can honestly say I’m still puzzled about how and why it was nominated for Best Picture. The story is fairly typical. Ford wants to take on Ferrari as a serious race car competitor. They hire American car designer Carroll Shelby (Matt Damon) to innovate Ford’s designs. Their ultimate goal is to compete in the 24 Hours of Le Mans race and defeat Ferrari. For this, they need a world class driver and Shelby advocates for Ken Miles (Christian Bale). Miles is tough to deal with and doesn’t like being told what to do. He and Shelby know their stuff though and after much back and forth, Ford decides to take a chance on them.
The movie shows the trial and error process Shelby and Miles undertake to create a machine that is built for speed that can compete in the 24 Hours of Le Mans. If you know anything about cars, I’d imagine this would be a really fun watch for you. I have little interest in cars but I did like learning about the different races (before this I had no knowledge about Le Mans).
Bale and Damon bring to life two legends in the car world. I thought both of their performances were very well done and I enjoyed watching them interact on screen. Damon’s gum chewing, fast talking, and fast driving Shelby made me like him. Bale’s somewhat reckless but extremely passionate Miles kept me entertained throughout the movie.
Ford v Ferrari was definitely entertaining but I did not see anything special about it to warrant the Best Picture nomination at the Oscars. Director James Mangold (who I normally really like) didn’t take any risks here. He created a very straight forward and typical narrative. Admirable performances from Damon and Bales with a very average screenplay made this a very mediocre movie for me. I’d advise you to see Ford v Ferrari if you’re a car aficionado, but otherwise I think it’s very missable.
Film or Movie: Movie
You’ll like this movie if:
1. You are a fan of car racing
2. You like to watch action sequences with cars
3. You want to learn more about the world of car racing
