After seeing almost all of the Best Picture nominees for 2020, I could have told you that Ford V. Ferrari was probably not going to take home the top prize. I could also have told you that, despite that feeling, Ford V. Ferrari was one of the Best Picture nominees I enjoyed the most. Many of its competitors were films that wanted to be artsy, or make a statement, or prove a point, and I’m not saying that there’s anything wrong with that. But there is a certain amusement and joy in a movie that is just there to entertain us. That sort of movie can be fun for anyone in the theater, not just the people who come for high art, and that’s what we’ve got here. It’s well-made, it’s good for both theater and home viewing, and it doesn’t ask too much of its audience in order to be enjoyed. And, for some people, having some really nice cars are a big plus.
In the mid 1960s, Enzo Ferrari (Remo Girone) dominates the world of cars in terms of speed and recognition. Determined to bring the Ford Motor Company to the top of the automotive world, Lee Iacocca (Jon Bernthal) talks Henry Ford II (Tracy Letts) into designing a car to enter into the 24 Hours of Le Mans endurance race against Ferrari. To build such a car, he calls upon retired Carroll Shelby (Matt Damon), one of the only Americans to ever win the Le Mans race, and Ken Miles (Christian Bale), a temperamental but excellent driver and engineer. With less than 90 days, Miles and Shelby need to create a car that can withstand the demanding conditions of Le Mans and beat out Ferrari at its own game, all while dealing with corporate interference and maintaining the “Ford Family Image”, leading to the creation of the Ford GT40 high-performance race car. But will it be enough to win?
This is a character driven film more than anything else. Sure it’s about cars, but the real beauty is in the interactions and the way that characters play off of each other, and that makes the moments when the cars aren’t racing work. A big part of that is the ease and chemistry that works between our two leads – Bale and Damon are a great pair, and it’s surprising it’s taken this long to see them work as one. It’s partially because of the truth in each character; Damon is a more straight-laced ballplayer, while Bale is more irate and passionate driven, and their roles as Carroll Shelby and Ken Miles reflect those parts of themselves. And those parts play together for a fun balance in characters – one of the best scenes of the film is their childish fight on the front lawn, reminiscent of two little boys getting into an argument, beating on each other with groceries and wrestling with trash can lids but, at the end of it all, joking and swearing at each other with light-hearted ease. That feeling of connection and chemistry echoes in Miles’ relationship with his wife Mollie (Caitriona Balfe), a romantic pairing that never comes off as feeling too much for the movie, but not so little that it’s hard to believe they are a loving couple at all. 
One of the other best moments, one that really struck, was during Letts’ performance of Henry Ford II after his brief joyride in the race car that his team built. After speeding in a car faster than he’s ever gone, the man who has been set up as, if not the main villain at least a serious jerk, starts crying and talks about how he wishes his father had been alive to see the creation of Ford’s fastest car. While this man does little else to redeem his character throughout the film, that moment defines him as a human being, and it’s a great moment of character.
It has been remarked that, despite the premise of the film, it’s not as car-heavy as you would expect. This is true, because a decent portion of the beginning of the movie is about how the car that Ken Miles raced at Le Mans came to be, but not about them building it – that comes in montages and quick sequences, while more time is devoted to the behind-the-scene politics of making it happen and the discussion of the car’s faults. While this may be a disappointment for some, it’s also not always a detriment, because it means that people who don’t know a lot about cars won’t feel totally lost. You are walked through the finer points of the race and you can understand Ken’s explanation of how the car is performing, but those who already know how that works can marvel in the rebuilds of the beautiful cars from the 1960s (the real ones, while not necessarily unavailable, would’ve been too dangerous and difficult to use as set pieces). And, the all together, the group can enjoy the experience of the final race, the build-up, and the feeling that comes with watching our protagonists come out on top (even if you already know what’s going to happen). The only downside to all of this is that sometimes the movie does tend to drag out a little bit – it’s 2 and a half hours, kind of long for any movie, but when you take into account that the racing doesn’t necessarily make up the majority of it, it can be a bit slower than you would’ve liked. For me, this was made up for with the sound work – I can’t even imagine how difficult it would be to match car noises to the correct scenes, with different cuts and clips of the same moments, all while keeping the audience in the moment – but that might not be the detail that all audiences connect to.
Personally for me, the highlight of the movie was in how, despite being a relatively simple story and not necessarily something that promises twists and turns (most biopics don’t, and that’s okay, since it’s not usually what they’re aiming for), there still manage to be surprises and misdirects. Though Shelby’s heart condition is given the opening sequence, you never know when or if it’s going to come into play throughout the story, other than it being the reason that he himself stopped racing and is merely designing the cars that hit the track – he takes pills throughout the story, but you don’t know when the condition may become an issue. Miles occasionally zoning out during his drives, tuning out the noise around him, creates a similar feeling of “it’s all about to go wrong”, as does the instances of his needing the brakes on the car replaced. My personal favorite was after Miles’ crash in the test car and his son’s (Noah Jupe) discussion with Phil Remington (Ray McKinnon) about how if a driver can get out of the car, they usually survive a crash, they manage to put him in a situation that makes you feel like he might not get out of the car, but ultimately comes to nothing. During the first lap in the Le Mans race, Miles’ door does not close properly, creating drag, and the only thing the team can do to correct the issue is beat it in with a hammer. Seeing that in theaters, my immediate thought was “oh God, that’s going to prevent him from getting out of the car if he crashes”, making the next few laps all the more tense because there is seemingly no escape route. While nothing comes of this particular instance in the film, it is a moment where they took a detail from earlier that is obviously a Chekhov’s gun, and only seems to give us the answer for a brief period of time; building up tension for the race that isn’t just about coming in first or beating Ferrari as planned. It’s a great moment, and one I would love to see similarly done more often.
4 / 5
Can there be an Oscar for Best Duo? I get not nominating Bale or Damon separately, but their pairing in this movie deserved its own recognition.
ReelTalk 