Ford v Ferrari

We're looking at James Mangold's best movie till date, people! And what an absolutely direct adrenaline shot to the vein this film is! The racing sequences are to die for! Be it the '7000 RPM Go Like Hell' in Daytona, test drives or the nail-biting finale at 24 Hours of Le Mans, these episodes were captured like an experience! The way the filmmaker helmed the frames with the help of impossible camerawork and hair-raising score will leave you gasping for air to breathe! This beautiful orchestra of teamwork managed to strap you on the front seat of these drivers, allowing you to see the danger they're witnessing! Accidents on track, weather condition and pit stop activities are portrayed excellently too!

The screenplay moves at the speed of these cars as well! On a wider scope, Ford Motor Company is trying to be the hip of the times as they decide to test the waters at automobile racing. On a miniscule scale, we trail Carroll Shelby (Matt Damon), a former expert-racer-turned-car-engineer who could no longer drive like he used to due to his heart condition. This is when Ken Miles (Christian Bale) comes into the story as one of the most prolific drivers the world has never seen. Carroll sees himself in Ken, and how both of them pursue the path to create the best racing car for Ford in order to beat Ferrari at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1966, is the crux of this true story left for you to find out!

The conflicts are super solid! Each scene was designed based on the fundamental anatomy of storytelling! No matter the size, there's always a problem to solve, a victory to taste and a downfall to slide. GT40's malfunctioning door is an example. While Shelby's face-offs with Leo Beebe (Josh Lucas) are nerve-wrecking, Miles' financial stumbles, family life and societal perception on him are bittersweet. Henry Ford II's (Tracy Letts) speech to his workers, Shelby locking Beebe in his office before taking Henry Ford II for a spin that results in wailing, Lee Iacocca's (Jon Bernthal) deal negotiation with Enzo Ferrari (Remo Girone) and Carroll meeting Henry Ford II to explain why he shouldn't be fired are instances of fantastic writing!

Do we even need to say anything about the performances? You have two of the greatest actors onscreen together, what else can you expect in return? The way these two principal characters talk about automobiles, especially Christian Bale as Ken Miles, shows the intense passion for his craft behind every statement of his! Speaking of statements, the dialogues are amazing, and the scenes featuring Ken explaining the Le Mans track and racing to his son, be it on paper or on an actual track, are inspiring and heart-warming! The arc for his character, as he slows his car down to function as a team player is sweet! Even after being unfairly robbed off his victory, instead of being the old Miles, he accepts the fate and walks away without causing a ruckus. His tragic death in the end is just too sad and emotional as we feel the same pain Shelby's having! Shelby and Ken knew each other way ahead before the events of this feature, and you have to give it to the writers for inducting us organically into their relationship without wasting time building the foundation from grounds up. Also, it was smart of them to use Shelby as our point-of-view character to narrate this tale for it would have been harder or perhaps longer for us to empathize with the protagonist had it been brash Ken.

Gripes wise, there were a few scenes that happened without any real strong motivation pushing it from behind. The little tease talk between Ken and the stranger lady in the beginning who reveals herself to be his wife, Shelby stealing stopwatches from the Italians and Mollie (Caitriona Balfe) driving recklessly to get a confession out of her husband are needless. Even the grocery bag brawl, while funny, did not have firm reason to occur.