Standard tale that ticks all the boxes on a race car movie - but very watchable.

Rating: 7/10 (1 December 2019)

This is the type of movie about how the little guys show up the big boys on the race track and prove to everyone that they're right and the nabobs are all wrong. I had some real emotional moments watching the racing (it's almost inevitable if you watch beginning to end) and I found this movie reasonably entertaining.
It's a masculine tale beginning to end - the only female character of note is Mollie (Caitriona Balfe) as racer Ken Mile's wife, who for the most part seems to be in the movie as an afterthought. This movie treads a well-worn path as it unfolds almost exactly like every other car racing movie ever made, from "Grand Prix" (1966) to "Days of Thunder" (1990) while still managing to set itself apart from all of those, even if only in some minor details. Damon (as Carroll Shelby) manages to be a rock steady influence throughout the entire movie, applying his good-old American know-how to temper the hot-headed but brilliant racer Ken Miles (Bale). This movie has few or no surprises, but still manages to be a good watch from beginning to end.
If you happen to be a fan of car racing, this is probably a must-see movie. For most of us it is a good, solid "little guy vs. the establishment" tale told mostly from behind the wheel (and under the hood).