The basic story is somewhat well known. Henry Ford II was embarrassed by Enzo Ferrari at the negotiating table that would have seen him selling his Italian auto company to the American car giant.
Henry Ford II (Tracy Letts) and Lee Iacocca (Jon Bernthal) hatch a plan to beat the famed Italian brand at one racing’s most cherished competitions–The 24 Hours of Le Mans. Undoubtedly, The Le Mans race is the world’s oldest endurance racing event.
Winning this event, and rubbing their rival’s nose in it, would be great for the auto giant. How will the famous grandson achieve this? By hiring designer Carroll Shelby (Matt Damon) and his British driver, Ken Miles (Christian Bale).
Shelby has completed the race and believes Ken is their best chance at getting this done. But these names by themselves are larger than life. Trying to get them to work cohesively as a group–not so easy.
But the tension between personalities creates our action. For example, the back and forth between Shelby and Miles is classic–with one scene ending with both men on the ground after exchanging punches.
It’s really cool to watch real stories on screen. The sound of the engines is spine tingling and the editing is spot on.
Movies like these don’t have time to develop romantic parts of the film. But Ford v Ferrari does a great job of showcasing the love between Miles, his wife Mollie (Caitriona Balfe), and their son Peter (Noah Jupe).
Mr. Jason Bourne and his fellow castmates convince us that they are on the racetrack during the 1960’s, and they are pushing their machines to their absolute limits.
So, what’s our conclusion? Watch it now with your volume turned up to 10.
Director: James Mangold
Cast: Matt Damon, Christian Bale, Jon Bernthal, Caitríona Balfe, Tracy Letts, Josh Lucas
Release date: November 15, 2019
Runtime: 152 minutes