Movie Review - Ford Vs Ferrari: On the fast track

Johnson Thomas

Race car fans are bound to get ecstatic over James Mangold’s latest directorial effort – a biopic about how Ford Motor Company stole a march over Ferrari at Le Mans, the most grueling and important race 24-hour-long event of the 60’s. The film is set in that period, leading up to 1966, when the Ford GT40 Mark I rejigged by Ken Miles(Christian Bale) and Carol Shelby (Matt Damon) overcome several obstacles (including a meddling VP, Leo Beebe played by Josh Lucas in rare cunning) and get to that climactic Le Mans finish.  

The narrative basically trails Miles and Shelby’s race car driving, leading us through a build-up to their brotherly solidarity before they make it to the Le Mans track. Miles is the tech genius and driver while Shelby, a retired racer himself, stays behind the scenes to parlay with the bosses. Based on the true story of the Ford Motor Company’s early racing programme, the film eventually follows Henry Ford II’s initial decision to shut down the factory before retracting following Enzo Ferrari’s denial of a buyout.

This is an efficiently directed film with James Mangold juicing the most out of  rather long-drawn racing sequences, which build up on thrills by upping the intensity, accompanied by Phedon Papamichael’s amazing shot-taking, unobtrusive smooth-flowing edits, a pulsating score and superb sound effects – all contribute to get your heart pumping. Damon, Bale, and the rest of the cast make strong impressions as the film races through thrills and spills en route to its shocking finish. Come awards season, Christian Bale and Matt Damon could be up for top acting honors while Caitriona Balfe (who plays Miles’ wife) and Josh Lucas could corner the supporting actor honors for their sterling contribution in making this full throttle, larger-than-life racy sports biopic an exciting, thrilling and memorable one!