Review of Ford v Ferrari (2019) by Davrosdaleks1 — 16 Nov 2019

Ford v. Ferrari is a retelling of the Ford company's attempts to compete with Ferrari in building racing cars and win the Le Mans race and the designer and driver behind getting the tasks done. This is just a really well put together, well written movie that looks at the passion for something in contrast with the constraints of the business world.

The direction on this is tight. It looks nice and the pacing is pretty smooth for a two-and-a-half hour movie. Director James Mangold (Logan, Walk the Line) really knows how to make scenes visually interesting, throwing in little stuff. Though there isn't really that much racing in this, the race at Le Mans really pays off your expectations.

Matt Damon and Christian Bale are the leads in this, the former being the guy who tries to work within the system and the latter being the guy who can't. Matt Damon gives a fine performance, but it's Bale who steals every scene he's in. The famously versatile actor completely sells the character of driver Ken Miles, both brash but charismatic. I'll be very surprised if he doesn't get an Oscar nomination. To be honest, the casting even to the smallest characters is pretty darn good. Props should be given to Tracy Letts as tough, intimidating boss Henry Ford II.

The only weak spot I found, and it's more of a knitpick, is that they could've cut down on the scenes of Miles interacting with his family. It's good stuff, but it can be a little repetitive.

Overall, I highly recommend this.