Review by Zach Dennis
Ford v. Ferrari is the ultimate TNT movie.
Take that as you will but it’s true. It’s 3 p.m. on a Saturday. Your partner asked if you wanted to go to the store with them. You say no and sit in front of the TV instead. There’s nothing on any channel: your best option is an Eastern Washington versus Miami of Ohio college football game from three years ago. You wonder what movies are on. You’ve seen Now You See Me 2 enough times for one lifetime and just aren’t in the mood for a re-watch of X-Men: Days of Future Past.
There’s where Ford v. Ferrari comes in.
Nothing is bad in this movie. You can see why all involved got the job — Matt Damon chews up scenery with charm and movie star bravado while Christian Bale gets to play off that with his own tongue-in-cheek charisma. James Mangold brings a certain adrenaline to the racing sequences that makes it worth seeing on the big screen before your future lazy weekend afternoon.
But overall, Ford v. Ferrari is just fine.
Chronicling the battle between the Ford Motor Company and Ferrari in 1966 to win the 24 Hours of Le Mans, Damon plays Carroll Shelby, a former contestant in the race who now specializes in designing and selling racing vehicles. He’s approached by Ford to construct their racing vehicle and given as much leeway as possible to make it happen — and quickly.
The only hiccup seems to be his choice in driver — Ken Miles (Bale), who has a wildcard streak, even if he is the most skilled racer to take the job. A wrestling match between the crew trying to make the vehicle the best it can be and the Ford executives (made up of Josh Lucas, Jon Bernthal, and Tracy Letts as Ford) .
Mangold sets up the film as a parable of creativity vs. business. The creative team of Shelby and Miles are not making the car to necessarily make Ford look better, but because they want to see if they can accomplish the goal and win the race. The same can’t be said for the other side, which is set on the idea of creating a racing team as a way to instill some cache with the younger crowd looking for hot, fast cars and the air of cool that comes with the racing scene.
This jockeying never quits, even when (spoiler alert: but come on, this is history…) they end up winning the race and Miles decides to concede to the request made by the Ford executives – the point being that unless you have a seat at the table, you’re always on the menu.
It goes a bit too long, but Ford v. Ferrari flows due to two true movie star performances and a guiding hand from Mangold that knows what beats need to hit when. Maybe it is dismissive to call it the ultimate TNT movie – because I would probably do the same thing and check in on it if it were playing – but that doesn’t mean I’m standing down my claim.
If I did, I would be making the same mistake as Ken Miles.