Ford v. Ferrari
Directed By: James Mangold
So the last time I went to a movie for fast cars and Jon Bernthal was Baby Driver and it actually made me ill (motion sickness) and gave me a migraine that no amount of drive-by Bernthal appearances could cover.
It was with some trepidation that I went to see Ford v Ferrari.
Luckily it was better.
Jon was definitely in it more than he is a lot of movies. He plays Lee Iacocca- still wasn’t much of a character but at least he was prettying up the background 😉 Plus the one thing I desperately wanted him or anyone to do (punch Josh Lucas) he didn’t!
Okay so Ford v Ferrari is actually about something other than my fantasies. After being humiliated by Ferrari Ford enlists Carroll Shelby (Matt Damon) to design a car fast enough to bet them specifically at the famous 24 Hours of Le Mans race.
Shelby can only do it with the help of long-term friend and total grump Ken Miles (Christian Bale)- who is an incredibly racer with a real feel for cars, just not people.
Bale, for all the character grumpiness, does a great job of getting across the passion. He and Damon work well together. There’s a funny fight scene that I would have liked even more if not for the coke product placement. Damon’s Shelby is the more business minded of the two and he’s perfectly fine.
But everyone is really here for the cars and the races right?
It was really well done. In truth my knowledge of cars basically extends to: oh pretty and oh fast so the history of Le Mans which is a crazy 24 hour race was totally new to me. And a little bit maddening if I’m being honest but I really was totally into it- edge of my seat kind of thing.
And I did vaguely understand how they were putting the car together. Though to be fair I’ve never understood the love for Shelby’s.
Ford v Ferrari was fun and interesting if you’re into racing and cars or honestly if you’re just looking for a good movie over the holiday. It’s not going to rewrite the book or anything but it’s worth a watch. And hey, I can legit say I learned something!
Recommend: Yes.