Butler's Cinema Scene

Christian Bale, Matt Damon

“FORD v FERRARI” My rating: B

152 minutes | MPAA rating: PG-13

One needn’t care about car racing to get caught up in James Mangold’s “Ford v Ferrari,” a fact-based (well, mostly) bit of automotive/pop culture history fueled by engaging performances, a come-from-behind narrative and enough close calls on the track to have nervous viewers yearning for a Valium.

The tale begins  with driver/car designer Carroll Shelby (Matt Damon) winning the 1959 24 Hours of Lemans race despite experiencing some alarming physical issues.  Turns out he’s got a bad ticker;  that would be his last competition behind the wheel. From now on he’ll have to be content selling fancy cars to rich idiots.

Cut to Detroit where Henry Ford II (Tracy Letts), intent on sexing up the Ford Motor Company’s bourgeoise brand, dispatches exec Lee Iacocca (Jon Bernthal) to Europe.  The plan is for Ford to buy Ferrari; Detroit will continue to crank out station wagons and sedans; the Italians will retain their independence in hand-crafting race-winning machines.

Not only does the deal fall through, but old man Ferrari opines that Ford makes ugly cars in ugly factories….and that Henry Ford II is fat.

This can mean only one thing: War.

Ford recruits Shelby to create a Ford racing car from scratch…and to do it in a matter of months.

In turn, Shelby recruits Brit driver Ken Miles (Christian Bale), whose volatile temper and refusal to kowtow to the money men has made him persona non grata in some racing circles…not to mention a target of the IRS. Thing is, Miles is more than just a supremely talented (if cranky) driver; he’s a car whisperer who can take a machine out for a spin and immediately identify everything that’s wrong with it and what must be done to improve its performance.

“Ford v Ferrari’s” screenplay (credited to Jez Butterworth, John-Henry Buterworth and Jason Keller) follows two parallel lines.

In one Shelby, Miles and their lavishly underwritten team work day and night to crack the many design problems inherent in building what would become the GT40, a car powerful enough yet light enough to challenge Ferrari on its own turf.  In that regard this is a fairly conventional (if often exciting) race movie.

In the other plot Shelby must run interference between the surly Miles and the corporate powers whose playbook relies less on personal daring than on conformity and obedience. (“Ford hates guys like us,” Miles tells Shelby, “because we’re different.”) Ford bigwig Leo Bebee (Josh Lucas) is the villain of this piece, a high-powered corporate drone who hates Miles at first sight and does all he can to keep him off the track.

“Ford v Ferrari” is something of a showcase for its two leading men. Damon, who has long excelled at making unremarkable decency interesting, has the tougher job.  His Shelby is a sophisticated guy hiding behind a good ol’ boy cowboy hat; nevertheless, he’s driven to succeed.  Also, he loves cars more than almost anything.

Bale has the more colorful role, presenting Miles as a sardonic iconoclast not above chewing out a race official or punching out his best friend; clearly he likes winning, but he seems even more motivated by doing what is, in his eyes, anyway, the right thing.

Miles also has the more personal story, with a supportive wife (Caitriona Balfe, star of TV’s “Outlander”) and an adoring son (Noah Jupe).

At times the film plays fast and loose.  Leo Bebee, the head of Ford Racing, probably wasn’t quite the snake-in-the-grass we get here. And the films suggests that Ford conquered LeMans in a matter of months; in fact, it took three years and two big losses before the team pulled off a big upset in 1966.

Director Mangold (“3:10 to Yuma,” “Logan,” “Walk the Line”) effectively maximizes both the physical aspects of the sport (the racing sequences are  genuinely thrilling) and the Shelby-Miles friendship, delivering something for both the head and heart.

| Robert W. Butler