by Conan Simmons – August 2, 2020 – 4:40pm
Fox’s last gas before Disney took over the company completely is a well-crafted ode to American manufacturing.
After completing Hugh Jackman’s iconic run on the Marvel comics character ‘The Wolverine’ in 2013 and its sequel the Oscar nominated ‘Logan’ in 2017, director James Mangold turns to realistic action adventure. Telling the story of two obsessive professionals teaming together to lead American automaker Ford to winning the 24 Hours at Le Mans in 1966.
Henry Ford II, played by Tracy Letts, is unhappy with the low number of sales his auto company is making. Board member Lee Iacocca, played by Jon Bernthal, convinces him to challenge the dominance of Italian luxury sports car Ferrari at the popular annual race in Le Mans. Enlisting the last American winner of that race, Carroll Shelby, to guide the making of a car capable of performing the feat Shelby in turn recruits English auto racer Ken Miles to drive. Miles is a maverick that insists on doing things his own way. Shelby is sympathetic to Miles’ way of thinking being a like-minded individual himself while understanding how the big automaker must be placated.
The action is the highlight of this picture. The races are displayed with great cinematography by Phedon Papamichael and the film editing rightly deserved the Oscar it won. Christian Bale and Matt Damon both turn in top performances as Ken Miles and Carroll Shelby though Bale’s Miles is the only one that gets any kind of character examination as the film eschews going the biopic route in favor of staying the action sports film track.
Solid filmmaking all around. ‘Ford v Ferrari’ was nominated for four Academy Awards including Best Picture and Best Sound Mixing, it won two: Film Editing and Sound Editing.