Friday, April 17, 2020

Movie review: Ford v Ferrari

 
 With the goal of beating Ferrari at Le Mans and knocking Enzo from his throne, Ford taps car designer Carroll Shelby who enlists driver Ken Miles. Together the two struggle against corporate interference and physics building the fastest car they can to whip Ferrari in the 1966 Le Mans.

Matt Damon (Shelby), Christian Bale (Miles), Jon Bernthal (Iacocca), Caitriona Balfe (Mollie), Josh Lucas (Leo), Noah Jupe (Peter), Tracy Letts (Henry Ford II), Remo Girone (Enzo), Ray McKinnon (Phil), Ian Harding (Ian).

Ford v Ferrari is a familiar story that has been retold many times. This time around the story seems to focus more on Ken Miles. Driving the Shelby cars locally, Ken Miles pushed the cars hard and exposed much of their performance potential. He also had a strong hand in design improvements and changes to the vehicles. His relationship with Shelby was interesting and as presented in the film, seems fairly accurate. The result is a sports drama that moves along at a decent pace and does a nice job of retelling the Ford v Ferrari rivalry.

Acting was interesting in this one. While Damon and Bale both delivered well and were enjoyable, neither had a believable accent. Bale's changed frequently enough to almost be distracting. Bernthal was a surprising choice and did nicely. Lucas and Balfe were both solid and added some depth to things. Jupe, Girone, Harding and the reminder of the supporting cast were good.

Camera work, sets, and backgrounds were very well done. In particular, part of the track was recreated for filming. CGI was nicely done, blending well with actual scenes. Dialogue was good with a nice mix of drama and a few bits of comedy. Sound and soundtrack are solid.

When the checkered flag drops Ford v. Ferrari finishes nicely. The solid story is supported with good acting, nice technical work, and flows along nicely. Those who enjoy the Ford and Ferrari rivalry, or retellings of these famous events, should enjoy this one.

With some mild violence and foul language, this should be fine for preens and above.

Released: 2019
Reviewed: 4.14.20
Star rating: 3 out of 5
Genre: Drama, Biography, Drama, Sports Drama, Movies based on real life

copyright ©2020 Dave Riedel

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