|
★★★☆☆
8 November 2019
A movie review of LE MANS '66 / FORD V FERRARI. |
Director: James Mangold (LOGAN, THE WOLVERINE, KNIGHT AND DAY, 3:10 TO YUMA, WALK THE LINE, IDENTITY, COP LAND).
Starring: Christian Bale, Matt Damon, Jon Bernthal, Josh Lucas, Tracy Letts, Caitriona Balfe.
“There’s a point at 7,000 RPMs where everything fades,” Carroll Shelby (Matt Damon)
If you were hoping for a dissection of motor racing, which fascinatingly explains the excitement of participation and spectating, this is not the film. One anticipated the equivalent of the scene in LOVE & MERCY [2014], where Brian Wilson (Paul Dano) creates the album ‘Pet Sounds’. Unfortunately LE MANS ’66 / FORD V FERRARI does not do anything with particular aplomb, though nor are there any misfires. The exception to that sentence: Christian Bale’s superb performance.
Starring: Christian Bale, Matt Damon, Jon Bernthal, Josh Lucas, Tracy Letts, Caitriona Balfe.
“There’s a point at 7,000 RPMs where everything fades,” Carroll Shelby (Matt Damon)
If you were hoping for a dissection of motor racing, which fascinatingly explains the excitement of participation and spectating, this is not the film. One anticipated the equivalent of the scene in LOVE & MERCY [2014], where Brian Wilson (Paul Dano) creates the album ‘Pet Sounds’. Unfortunately LE MANS ’66 / FORD V FERRARI does not do anything with particular aplomb, though nor are there any misfires. The exception to that sentence: Christian Bale’s superb performance.
|
|
By the way:
LE MANS ’66 – UK title,
FORD V FERRARI – USA title.
Neither is a great moniker. Le Mans in an annual 24-hour car race. If you’re like me, watching dudes in motor vehicles, going road a track, incessantly, is painfully boring. The title FORD V FERRARI is more enticing, but we do not get team Ferrari’s perspective. The 152-minute runtime could have been more efficiently utilised to compare corporate cultures.
The Ford Motor Company is looking to rejuvenate its image, while driver Ken Miles (Christian Bale) and car designer Carroll Shelby are aiming to rejuvenate their careers. The 24-hour Le Mans race is the crucible.
At first one worried that LE MANS ’66 / FORD V FERRARI was some sycophantic apology for grim corporatism. The movie began to unfold like a celebration of the downsides of capitalism. A mega corporation, able to write a blank cheque, like Ford, starts off annoyingly painted as an underdog. Added to that, the anti-Ferrari rhetoric had a whiff of xenophobia. But do not worry, these initial concerns not only do not come to pass, but are flipped into damning commentary: The consequences of corporate indifference to humanity. Ford head honcho, Henry Ford II (Tracy Letts), does not come off well.
|
|
The main antagonist is one rung lower than the top boss. Ford executive, Leo Beebe (Josh Lucas), is a one-note villain and cypher. He epitomises workplace myopia, pettiness, and envy. Bar Ken Miles, the ensemble comprises single-issue characters. Matt Damon brings easy likability in a gee shucks kinda way. However, he is a protagonist of Shakespearean complexity compared to perfect wife Mollie Miles (Caitriona Balfe). Her role is to eye-roll or hand-wring. Balfe’s charisma is wasted, reminding of the annoying characterisation of Janet Armstrong (Claire Foy) in FIRST MAN [2018]. They opine that boys will be boys. Groan.
How do you make a 24-hour race interesting? The answer here, only sporadically. Bar Christian Bale's lines, the dialogue is basic. The film evolves from the concerning to the almost coldly critical. The concept had potential not matching the end result.
