A pure cinema with a brilliant story.

Rating: 9/10 (1 May 2020)

Ford v Ferrari is a 2019 American sports drama film directed by James Mangold and written by Jez Butterworth, John-Henry Butterworth, and Jason Keller. The film stars Matt Damon and Christian Bale, with Jon Bernthal, Caitriona Balfe, Tracy Letts, Josh Lucas, Noah Jupe, Remo Girone, and Ray McKinnon in supporting roles.
The plot is based on a true story, two men - American car designer Carroll Shelby (Matt Damon) and British-born driver Ken Miles (Christian Bale), take on the racing team of Ferrari at the 24 Hours of Le Mans race by building their own. Carroll Shelby and Ken Miles were dispatched by Henry Ford II and Lee Iacocca with the mission of building the Ford GT40, a new racing car with the potential to finally defeat the perennially dominant Ferrari racing team at the 1966 24 Hours of Le Mans race in France.
The plot is built on the automotive battle between two corporations, but director James Mangold narrows it down to two person character study. Both Matt Damon and Christian Bale understand their character's strong personalities and use it to fuel the dynamic between their respective characters. Christian Bale is brilliant and mesmerises the audience yet again playing Miles - a volatile underdog that Ford doesn't want on their team. Miles is at the heart of the film, and Bale is almost magical to watch. Matt Damon is far more fleshed out character as Carol Shelby and gets his big moments on screen which he makes the most out of. Their combination and chemistry is exhilarating; you can't help rooting for the two when they're on screen, even without any cars involved. Speaking of which, James Mangold directs the racing sequences to convey not just the frenetic energy, but also to further the character arcs.
Besides the two leads, the supporting cast contributes brilliantly to the film as well. Jon Bernthal is solid, and so is Caitriona Balfe as Mollie Miles, but the most heartwarming relationship is between Miles and his son Peter, played by Noah Jupe. This pushes the pedal on the screenplay, which keeps it thrilling and, surprisingly humorous enough to ensure there's not a dull moment in its two and a half hours runtime. Motorheads and racing fans are guaranteed to love 'Ford v Ferrari', but even the casual moviegoer will get a brilliant 'against-all-odds' story as well. 'Ford v Ferrari' at the end of the day is what one might say a real cinema, the kind of solid, satisfying, non-pandering movie that might seem endangered nowadays.