Very well Produced and acted. Enjoyable, but, script issues

Rating: Null/10 (22 November 2019)

FORD V FERRARI
The battle between Ford and Ferrari has not gone down as one of the previous century's most important or serious, but, it does provide a nice backdrop for this entertaining drama.
FORD V FERRARI focuses on Carroll Shelby (Matt Damon) a one-time Le Mans champion race car driver (1959) who was forced into retirement. He helps design new vehicles including hot-headed journeyman driver Ken Miles (Christian Bale). When the Ford motor company contacts Shelby in 1964 with the idea of helping them design a car that can beat the vaunted Ferrari line of winners at Le Mans and it's charismatic owner Enzo Ferrari (Remo Girone). Shelby enlists Miles and his band of mechanics and friends to take on the task.
Of course, working for the huge Ford corporation means also dealing with corporate interference. Lee Iacocca (Jon Bernthal) is portrayed as the benign intermediary between Shelby and The Man -- Henry Ford II (Tracy Letts). VP Leo Beebe (Josh Lucas) is the 'heavy' -- the kiss ass in the company who only looks out for himself. The company politics angle could have been interesting, but Ford and, especially, Beebe are cartoonish villains. Letts and Lucas do the best they can, but, just come off as buffoons more appropriate for a sit-com than the big screen.
Fortunately, when the action sticks to the racetrack, the movie mostly hums. Francois Audouy's Production Design is sharp and captured well by Phedon Papamichael's cinematography (although, like with NEBRASKA one wishes he'd tone down the digital 'grain'). It's a well-done physical and aural (David Giammarco's sound design is aces) production all around. The large cast acquits itself well. Damon is very effective as the driven but level-headed Shelby. Bale gets the showier role and relishes it. Caitriona Balfe brings some perk to the stock role of Miles' patient wife.
James Mangold Directs with a sure hand. His insistence on accuracy (for the most part) and actual vehicles and locations rather than a surfeit of CGI gives the movie some grit and verve that helps make up for the 'sports film' cliches which hamper the screenplay (three writers). Mangold is a pretty strong writer himself (LOGAN, COP LAND), so it's unfortunate he apparently didn't have much input there. The epilogue is surprisingly melancholy and lifts the movie from the standard -- Rah! Rah! straight to the credits finale -- most sports films settle for. The maturity only highlights how lite much of the rest of the movie is. FORD V FERRARI is the kind of A List big budgeted drama that is rarely seen any more. It's enjoyable, but, a mediocre script keeps it from finishing higher.