Rating: PG-13
Runtime: 2 hours, 32 minutes
Director: James Mangold
Quick Impressions:
Ford v Ferrari is a movie about the 1960s, but it reminds me so much of the type of big budget Oscar hopeful made in the 1990s. It also features my favorite single scene of 2019 so far.
Last year, I was blown away by Bohemian Rhapsody’s transcendent recreation of Live Aid. The rest of the movie was okay, but that scene was sublime, and nothing else all year compared to it.
I have similar feelings about the Daytona scene in Ford v Ferrari. I’m not a racing enthusiast, but without hyperbole I can literally say that I died while watching that scene.
Okay, that may be a lie, but honesty doesn’t do justice to the extremity of my reaction. I realized how long and how tightly I’d been squeezing my husband’s arm about the time that I noticed my heart was thudding right out of my chest. I’m pretty sure I felt it beat so hard that it leaped out of my body. I felt like I needed a big gulp of Carroll Shelby’s heart pills. (I love the way he takes those, by the way.)
My husband, who had the presence of mind to check his Fitbit, reported that his heart rate was 120. I can only say that two or three minutes after the scene had ended, mine was 95, and my average resting heart rate is 64. (I know that sounds oddly specific, but that’s what Fitbit says.)
See? It sounds more exciting to say that I died, and that’s how I felt as I watched. I remember squeezing my husband’s arm, tighter and tighter and tighter, and finally realizing, “If the suspense gets ratcheted up any more, I am not going to survive this scene!”
“Our heart rates increased with the rpms,” my husband noted later.
It was something special for sure. And it didn’t have to be. The weird part is, I thought I knew what would happen before the race began, and I was right. Yet it was the most suspenseful thing I’ve seen in years! Years! It was thrilling.
And the experience was heightened by the enormous screen and amazing movie theater sound. We saw it in Cinemark XD, which I highly, highly recommend. Something will be lost if you wait and watch this movie at home.
So probably the greatest victory of Ford v Ferrari is that in a year of so many excellent Netflix Originals, it makes a strong, compelling case for the continued life of big studio releases shown on enormous movie screens. I’m pretty sure this film will deservedly be in the running for Best Picture this year, and it’s also a genuine crowd-pleaser that pretty much everybody will like.
The Good:
Seriously, everybody will like this movie. Even my parents (who are often tortured by my baffling desire to force them to watch Oscar movies) should actually like Ford v Ferrari.
It really does remind me of a big studio crowd-pleaser from an earlier era. It’s about these two compelling characters (winningly played by co-leads Matt Damon and Christian Bale) who are trying to build a Ford that’s faster than a Ferrari, a Ford that can win the 24 hours of Le Mans.
So the movie involves tons of interplay between these likable characters well played by two exceedingly established leading men, each with tested acting chops, tons of charisma, movie star good looks, and off-the-charts screen presence. Just watching Damon and Bale onscreen together is pretty great, and they’re joined by a lively and talented supporting cast (featuring particular standouts Noah Jupe as Ken Miles’s precocious son Peter and Tracy Letts as an oft blustering Henry Ford II). On top of that, Ford v Ferrari also gives us gorgeous cars (most of them Ferraris) and viscerally thrilling races (lots of breathtaking camera work and pulse-fluttering engine revving).
The movie is often exciting and always entertaining. Plus, it has some genuinely moving moments and ended up eliciting real tears from me (as well as quite a few laughs). The cinematography is excellent (and looks tricky. I would have no idea how to shoot those race scenes properly). The score is good, too, and so is the soundtrack.
Essentially, the movie is a winner, top to bottom, so I wouldn’t be surprised to see it start winning stuff (or at the very least rack up a bunch of nominations). That’s bound to happen. Netflix can’t win every Oscar this year!
But remember when I said Ford v Ferrari reminds me of a 90s Oscar movie? I meant that in a good way (or at least not as an insult). Time and again, I’ve heard movie buffs and film historians say that Titanic is like a period romance hidden in an action movie (or something to that effect). Ford v Ferrari is also a multi-dimensional film with hidden depth. It’s a racing movie, sure, but it’s a lot more than that.
My favorite aspect of the film is actually what it has to say about class. It shows us a world where some people belong to a privileged class and others have class. Usually films about class give us haves and have-nots, but in this film, we get more of a “I have everything,” v “Okay, whatever, I’m doing everything.” Here what you have matters less than what you do. What you do is who you are. What you do is your life.
Before I saw the movie, I read a comment on an online ad asking something like, “Should we really be cheering for Ford, a company known for its assembly lines to beat Ferrari, a company known for its craftsmanship?” And I thought, good point. So I went in a little uneasy. I love being an American, but one of our most unattractive traits is our tendency to throw obscene amounts of money at something and then yell obnoxiously, “Hahaha! We’re better than you!” I mean, Ford is a great company, but it’s not exactly The Little Engine That Could.
But the movie doesn’t actually set us up to cheer for Ford. I think it does a fabulous job of pointing out what truly makes America great. In fact, I’d say the executives at Ford (including Henry himself) are what the rest of the world sometimes sees us as. But we think we’re the guy in the car (or possibly the hard-working, risk-taking innovator helping the guy in the car). At the end of the day, we can’t control what others have, but we can control what we do.
Best Scene:
I already mentioned the best scene. The Daytona race is not only the best scene in this movie, but as far as I’m concerned, it’s the best scene of any movie in 2019 (by a landslide). What makes me so in awe of this scene is that it seems like such a predictable moment, and yet by the end, the level of suspense becomes absolutely insane. And why are we so deeply, deeply invested? I had no idea I even cared at all, let alone that much! (What bothers me most is that one man doesn’t know what the other man has done…so what if something goes wrong because of that?????????????)
But setting that phenomenal piece of film-making aside, my favorite moment in the movie is something Henry Ford II says to Carroll Shelby when he takes him to the window to show him his factories. I honestly think this is key to understanding the film. Consider what Ford says here, and then remember what Ken Miles did before be was a racecar driver.
Best Scene Visually:
My husband absolutely loved a moment in which Ken is listening to his radio while shadows cast by a moving airplane pass behind him. He found the symbolism of that shot exceptional.
I’m personally quite impressed with the skill with which the racing scenes were shot. If you gave me a hundred million dollars and told me to shoot those racing sequences…Well, you would lose your job. That’s the short version. (They would never let you make racing movies again!) (You would be laughed right out of Hollywood.) (It’s all over for you!)
Phedon Papamichael deserves recognition for how fantastic this film looks.
Best Action Sequence:
I absolutely love the way Carroll Shelby “makes an entrance” to give a speech about his decision to work with Ford. Up to this point, this scene is easily my favorite in the film, and it still brings a smile to my face. It tells us a lot about Shelby (who is easily my favorite character in this film, though Petey is a close runner-up).
In terms of action, second and third place go to the moment when Shelby takes Ford for a spin and the time Ken’s wife Mollie takes the wheel to demand answers. Honorable mention to the ice cream scene.
Most Oscar Worthy Moment, Matt Damon:
Everybody I read/watch/listen to believes that since both Damon and Bale are running in lead actor, neither really has a shot at an Oscar nomination. And it is a competitive year. But we’ll see. (I’m sure a lot of Oscar voters will actually watch this movie because it’s so entertaining, and that’s got to count for something.)
Christian Bale has been one of my favorite actors since we were both children, and I love him, and he plays a kooky, adorable character here, but I think Matt Damon actually gives the stronger performance in this movie.
For one thing, he convincingly plays someone from Texas, which is tricky because 1) I’m from Texas, and movies get this wrong A LOT and 2) Who doesn’t know that Matt Damon is from Boston? This sounds like a little thing. Yes, actors work with dialect coaches, and most can pull off a decent accent pretty well. But I mean, Matt Damon is from Boston. It would be like if Matthew McConaughey played Paul Revere and nailed it to the point that you stopped thinking about his accent. Completely.
Secondly, I just loved Carroll Shelby as a character, and since I know almost nothing about cars, I know Carroll Shelby only because Matt Damon revealed him to me. (I mean, I am familiar with his name, but Damon makes him such a fully realized, compelling, charming character.)
His performance is kind of subtle, but I loved the charisma and the depth he brings to the character.
I think the final scene in his office when he’s yelling at an employee gives a good sense of the character. It’s less subtle than some of his other scenes. (You can’t miss the point.) But compared to the intensity of his emotion, his delivery is still pretty subtle.
Most Oscar Worthy Moment, Christian Bale:
I’ve been thinking about Bale’s performance, and I almost feel that being Christian Bale works against him here. He’s extremely convincing and lovable as Ken Miles, but the degree of difficulty feels low. That’s because it’s hard not to compare this performance to Bale’s previous work. He’s big and showy and intense, but it seemed a lot harder to convince audiences he was Dicky Eklund or Dick Cheney. This exuberant fellow doesn’t feel too different from Bale’s performance of himself at awards shows last year. (I wish he hadn’t thanked Satan! I get the joke, but why not just say Macbeth in a theater? It feels like such jinx-inducing behavior!)
As I watched the movie, I felt that Bale (while good) wasn’t as conspicuously special here as he’s been in the past. But now that some time has passed, I find myself constantly exuberantly singing, “H-A-P-P-Y! I’m H-A-P-P-Y!”
Bale probably has a better chance at a nomination than Damon, and maybe the late moment when he bursts into song in the car should be his Oscar scene.
He’s got fantastic chemistry with Damon and even better chemistry with Noah Jupe, the omnipresent child actor who plays Ken’s son Peter Miles.
Most Oscar Worthy Moment, Tracy Letts:
If it’s hard to believe the same man played Dick Cheney and Ken Miles, it’s even harder to believe the same actor played Ladybird’s father and Henry Ford II. I think Tracy Letts has a decent shot at getting a Best Supporting Actor nomination. I liked him in Ladybird, and I loved August: Osage County (even though I’ve only seen the movie, which is supposed to be inferior to the play. I watched and thought, “I can relate to this!”) I’d say I like Letts better as a writer than an actor, but he makes a very memorable Henry Ford. Who can forget him in the passenger seat?
Most Oscar Worthy Moment, Noah Jupe:
I don’t think Noah Jupe will be nominated, but you never know. He has some absolutely wonderful, emotionally resonant scenes. I especially like his conversation with Ray McKinnon’s Phil Remington.
If I were betting with my own money, I’d be hesitant to predict Oscar nominations for anyone in this cast. But they do deserve acclaim. The supporting cast is fantastic, too. Ray McKinnon has several great moments as Phil Remington. I liked Jon Bernthal as Lee Iacocca, and loved to hate Josh Lucas as Leo Beebe. (I don’t think I’ve ever seen Lucas give such an effective performance.) Caitriona Balfe has some fine moments as Ken’s wife Mollie (the drive, the ice cream scene). And I kept forgetting the Remo Girone was not actually the real Enzo Ferrari.
Brothers Jez and John-Henry Butterworth have written a lovely screenplay. (I like the way they structure the film’s emotional story around a key event that we don’t even see until the end.) The score by Marco Beltrami (and Buck Sanders) is great. And this is probably my favorite film by director James Mangold. (I know most people love Logan, but post-apocalyptic is my least favorite genre. I did love his 3:10 to Yuma, though.)
The Negatives:
I know nothing about racing movies. I thought Rush was great, Speed Racer was not as bad as people said, and Days of Thunder was pretty good (considering I watched it middle first in two back-to-back showings with commercial interruption on TNT). My point is, I’m not the right person to comment on the quality of the racing scenes (though I found them excellent) or to say if this movie is doing what a race movie should do. (I will say it was completely different from Rush, so even though that film was great, it can’t be used to judge this one.)
I also know nothing about real-life racing. And I have no idea about what really happened with Ken Miles and company back in the 1960s, so I can’t comment on the film’s historical accuracy (or lack thereof) either.
But I can say the movie works for non-racing fans. These two guys could be doing anything–racing horses, stealing jewels, building houses, fighting in a war. The human interest part of the story, the relationship dynamics and character interactions, is firing on all cylinders.
The one thing I wasn’t sure I liked was the relationship between Ken Miles and his wife, not because they didn’t have some great scenes together, but because I worried that these scenes should be making me feel more. Maybe the issue is with me. It took me a long time to warm to Caitriona Balfe. I can’t say why precisely. I just wanted more from her. I like all of the things the character does, but to me, the performance felt lacking. But maybe it’s just because Damon and Bale are such big stars, and I’m not as familiar with Balfe. (It’s not her fault that I haven’t seen Outlander. I did just realize that she voices Tavra, one of my favorite characters in The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance.)
Maybe the issue is that Bale has such fantastic chemistry with Noah Jupe who plays his son Peter.
I’m not sure if this is a problem with me or the film. (I’m leaning towards me, at the moment.) I watched those scenes with Miles and his wife and thought they were so well written, which made me think, “I should be feeling more here. This isn’t working as well as its supposed to be.”
But maybe I just need to watch it again.
My only other small complaint is that some of the early scenes are (relatively) slow. The movie builds momentum as it goes. Then again, it is a racing movie, and how much should I really be complaining about a film that gets better and better and better?
Overall:
Ford v Ferrari is a great movie that everyone can enjoy (again and again, in fact). It actually has a lot in common with a film that is as off-kilter as this is mainstream, Jojo Rabbit. In that movie, you dance. In this one, you drive. Either way, life is short, and control of your environment is an illusion. But you do what you can. I expect this movie to get nominated for Best Picture and possibly rack up some other honors along the way. But that’s not the reason to see Ford v Ferrari. Here’s why you should buy a ticket. You’ll like it. The chemistry between Damon and Bale and the visceral thrill of those revving engines virtually guarantee that the big winner in Ford v Ferrari is the audience.