Long but mostly engaging, even to non-car fans

Rating: 7/10 (1 December 2019)

I'll come right out and say that cars are one of the least interesting things in the world to me (perhaps only behind The Royal Family, fashion, and reality TV). If a car has four wheels, starts, and can maintain the speed limit: I'm happy. So it's unlikely I would have gone out of my way to see a movie so heavily focused on making and racing cars had it not been for the cast, the solid track record of director James Mangold, and the positive reviews.
On the topic of those reviews- I'm not as enamoured with the movie as many seem to be, but I find this movie relatively easy to recommend to anyone who's willing to give this movie 2.5 hours of their life. This running length is mostly justified- it's a fairly large story but I feel it could've ideally been 20-30 minutes shorter, and for all the hubbub The Irishman has been stirring lately because of its epic length... I feel like that one justified its running time more.
So the length and the subject matter weren't ideal for me, but highlights did include Bale's performance (wasn't he hugely overweight less than a year ago for Vice? This guy's commitment to the physicality of the roles he plays is INSANE), the racing scenes (they're tense as all hell, especially if you're like me and don't know the actual history of the events depicted), and the sound design. This movie has a really good chance of sweeping the technical awards at this year's Oscars, the same way movies like Gravity and Mad Max: Fury Road have done recently.
Give it a watch I'd say, even if you're not a car nut. If you have a great home theatre and sound setup it's not a must watch at the cinema, but if not, it's a good one to see on the big screen.