A good motor racing film, but has flaws.

Rating: 7/10 (17 November 2019)

Playing out the real life story of how Henry Ford the 2nd vowed to get revenge on Ferrari after a failed takeover bid that left him feeling humiliated, so decides to crush the Italian team at the infamous 24 hours of Le Mans endurance race.
Note : In the UK, the film title is 'Le Mans '66.
This story has been told by Amazon Prime's 'The grand Tour' too, and they had the good sense to keep it short to around fifteen minutes and included more technical information that this movie lacked, which would have helped to build a more rounded picture, this picture is aimed at appealing to motor racing fans in general, technical information is part and parcel of being a fan, it is not solely about the drivers, this film feels dumb down a little too much for it's own good.
The film, good presentation and accurate feel, Matt Damon plays the part of a man forced to give up racing due to ill health and focus on something else related quite well, Christian Bale is excellent as rough around the edges racer Ken Miles, it is nice to see Jon Bernthal as something other than a brutal thug that he is often cast as, Caitriona Balfe provides an excellent supporting role.
However, the film is too long at two and a half hours, a good twenty minutes could have been cut from this without removing from the core story, the relationship between Carroll Shelby and Ken Miles is the core focus at the expense of the more important finer details, such as the film's main protagonist Ferrari and his team of drivers, and instead pays attention to the boring politic's of Ford's executives, namely Leo Beebe trying to win the race his way when Carroll actually knows what needs to be done.
Overall the film is good, but it is something better enjoyed at home rather than a movie theatre, I don't regret going to see it, but I was not blown away by it either.