The movie so misunderstood

Rating: 8/10 (1 December 2019)

"High speed's and thrilling bumper to bumper sequences aren't the only things this movie has to offer. With it's touching bromance and charismatic characters Ford v Ferrari is an homage to the truly great Hollywood films of old, as it brings to life a great cinematic representation of one of racings most historical events and truly becomes a must see for everyone."
On the surface, Ford v Ferrari is portrayed as a touch and go film for motoring enthusiasts, but after seeing the film that couldn't be further from the truth. Director James Mangold who's name is widely appreciated after films such as Logan and 3:10 to Yuma has really proven to the audience racing films are no longer just for a certain audience, but can be enjoyed by all in this exhilarating biopic. The movie really stands out through its main characters' bromance between Carroll Shelby and Ken Miles played by Matt Damon and Christian Bale, delivering some of their best acting yet.
The movie opens up with Matt Damon's Carroll Shelby winning the grueling 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1959 for the Aston Martin team before explaining that the victory was short-lived, as Shelby's racing career comes to an end due to heart complications. After being forced into retirement Shelby focusses on his vehicle design and sales career whilst at the same time the audience is introduced to the big boss of Ford: Henry Ford II played tremendously by Tracy Letts. This scene sets up the entire drive of the film as the big boss explains to all of his working staff that ford is coming to an end at the hands of bad business and poor vehicle manufacturing leading to Fords diminishing reputation. From here the movie kicks into gear as the idea of buying out Ferrari runs across Henry Ford from the marketing man Lee Lacocca (Jon Bernthal), but goes south and a rivalry is born as Ford wishes to beat Enzo Ferrari (Remo Girone) at his own game. At the 24 hours of Le Mans, which Ferrari has dominated over the years.
Matt Damon produces one of his best performances throughout his acting career within this film. Showing the audience a very likable, charismatic and enthusiastic Carroll Shelby who will stop at nothing to overcome the challenge laid out to him by ford. Another nice addition to this film is Ken Miles' wife Molly (Caitriona Balfe), who stands out as a badass in her own right as she knows what makes Ken really shiver in his boots, and in one great scene really makes the soon to be famous racing driver crap his pants. This movie holds a plethora of great characters and fantastic acting that will definitely have the academy keep a keen eye out heading forward towards the Oscars.
Another fantastic outline within this film is its score composed by Marco Beltrami and Buck Sanders which really captures the feeling of racing, from the intense drumming and guitar riffs to the loud trumpets of victory the score doesn't feel the slightest out of place as it sticks to the instrumentals that you would find in such a time period.
As much as this film is great there are some flaws that audience members will definitely take away with them. One glaring flaw is this films run time clocking in at two hours and thirty-two minutes. The film at some instances does feel like it begins to drag on a little, but this does thankfully become resolved as once the boredom begins to settle in it shoots back up to a thrilling pace which does seem to be great, but maybe a cutback on some of the more slower scenes would really help this film shine more within the audience. Another glaring flaw I noticed wasn't necessarily the movie itself, but it's marketing. The marketing seems to highlight one thing and one thing alone, and that is it's a car film. I understand yes it is essentially a car-based film, but it is also so much more with a great narrative about true success and fighting for a goal as well as just what it means to show fantastic sportsmanship. However, most of these highlights within the film are overshadowed within the trailers and previews with just racing which leads to only one certain audience really discussing this film, that audience being motor enthusiasts when in reality this movie is for everyone.
And finally, we come to the verdict of this film. As much as I enjoy this film I understand that people have differing opinions so instead of giving out a solid number out of ten I will leave a quick overview so you can decide whether to see the film for yourself. This is a high stake sports film with intense scenes and loveable characters that show great development as the story goes on. The film has an enigmatic score and really captures the feeling of racing in the 60's that really puts you on the edge of your seat as the characters resonate with the audience making this experience something amazing.
Written by:
Ivan Dorich