Ford v Ferrari is Well Made and Performs as Smoothly as the Cars it Idolizes

Rating: 8/10 (27 November 2019)

While I'm going to have a couple of complaints from the script later, I want to highlight that it really does a great job developing 3 of the central characters to the film. Carroll Shelby is painted as driven but realistic, one eye on the prize and the other at keeping his team in line. He's passionate about his work but he's learned the hard way that his time in the driver's seat might have passed. I liked that he wasn't just a starry eyed dreamer and was fairly savvy about the challenges ahead and what doing business with Ford meant. Miles has similar traits, he loves to drive but reality hasn't always been kind to him either. He's very animated next to Shelby, both in his expression and his body language. But he has a deep knowledge of automotive work (makes sense, he's working as a mechanic when he's not racing) and a will to keep going. Miles and Shelby make a fantastic team, they form almost a yin and yang bond. I also thought Mollie Miles was a refreshing character. She's more active in the story than just a bystander, her love for her husband and her understanding of how amazing her husband's work was drawn with a light touch and I found their relationship to be genuinely sweet. The core players in this movie aren't just types (unfortunately that doesn't bleed over to the supporting characters... more on that later) and I think James Mangold and the screenwriters (Jez and John-Henry Butterworth, Jason Keller) did a good job presenting them as flawed but realistic people.
You're going to want the drama when watching a racing movie. Its inherent in the risk of the sport and there's plenty of it here. But you're also going to want to watch some racing sequences. This movie has lots of tense and tightly filmed scenes with the cars and they lived up to the billing in that respect. They're exciting and they also do great job weaving them in to service the plot (the scene where Shelby drive Henry Ford around to show him how dangerous racing can be was a favourite). There's the triumphant moments but there are also bits that underline the gravity and there's some big wrecks that also serve their purpose. The set decoration, the costuming and the cinematography are all on par and nicely put together (consistent with a big budget production) and I have nothing but praise for Ford v Ferrari for its visuals and the action
There's not only 1 A-list talent in the lead here but you have 2 of the best actors working in this movie and like I implied in the title, their performances hum along like the cars in the movie. Bale is the more expressive of the two, he's a fantastic actor and he completely throws himself into this role. He's known for being fully committed and the movie benefits from Bale's on screen antics. There are plenty of funny moments with Miles but Bale also knows how to grit his teeth and scowl just right when his character is pushing for that extra second off his time. Matt Damon is just a as good as Carroll Shelby, w0hile Bale walks the line between effective and overdoing it, he's more understated. But he's charming, his accent is on point and he's a compelling performer. I hadn't seen Caitriona Balfe in anything else but she absolutely held her own next to Bale and Damon. She's the most underrated performer in this and I was very impressed with her work. I liked Jon Bernthal, Noah Jupe and Tracy Letts in their respective supporting parts as well.
Ford v Ferrari performs like a car right off the assembly line but it did have a couple of minor issues that could have required a pit stop. I'll admit that the movie got me with an ending twist but otherwise the overall arc of the script is pretty predictable. You get the expected highs and lows, it never really shocked me or shifted into the next gear if you will. I can't get angry at a movie for being too well executed for what it wants to be but I could have used a couple of decisions that would have taken it off the beaten path. This also applies to the supporting characters. Leo Beebe has no dimension other than being a power hungry sycophant, Henry Ford II does nothing but scowl and growl and Peter Miles has little other to do than be concerned about his dad. For a movie that has so much put into it, it also would have benefited from a little extra added to those characters to flesh them out a little.
Ford v Ferrari crosses the finish line and it does so in style. All the facets of being a great sports movie are there with the acting, the camera work and the character development are all on point. I think it could have gone even farther but it is a good execution of a film in this genre and I can't fault it for that. I would actually grade this out at somewhere between a 8-9/10 but I have to round down in this case. I would definitely recommend seeing this on the big screen, it would add a lot to the action and help you enjoy the cinematography just that much more.