A Mat Damon Christian Bale Tour de Force

Rating: 8/10 (4 February 2020)

This film is not just for gearheads. It's not just for race fans or car geeks. This is a solid, well scripted, well directed, biography/drama with some of the most exhilarating race sequences on film that I've seen in a very long time. Everyone will enjoy this film whether they know of the history of Carroll Shelby and Ken Miles or not. With such a simple title as "Ford vs Ferrari", you'd think that it's all about the cars and true, to some extent it is, but its also about the strengths and vulnerabilities of two unique individuals who were determined to develop an American made race car (the Ford GT40) to win the 24 hours of Le Mans race in 1966. It goes through their personal struggles, their triumph, and ultimately the fate and the effects of their actions on the racing scene as we know it. The combination of Matt Damon, as Shelby, and Christian Bale, as Ken Miles, was perfect. Absolutely perfect. No other actors could have taken on these roles and so profoundly brought them to the big screen. This is a film that will go down in history as a masterpiece of film-making.