To me, the single most important job that director James Mangold had in Ford v. Ferrari was to avoid, at any cost, the Guardian effect.
If you didn’t see it (praise be), The Guardian was a 2006 Kevin Costner vehicle about Coast Guard rescue swimmers. It was evidently meant as a sort of tribute to the Coast Guard, the service’s one shot to shine on the big screen. Unfortunately it was D-grade chaff, a predictably macho cliche-fest that ultimately devolved into a wholly ill-advised ghost story. (Yes, really). Watching it at the time, I remember feeling silently sorry for all the Coast Guard fans nationwide who had packed into darkened multiplexes for their big Hollywood moment, and now sat, brows furrowed, wondering if there was somehow more to this story — some great inside Coast Guard joke that would come clear at the end. There wasn’t. The Guardian really was that bad. The Coast Guard’s rich history, the true tales of valor, all the rest, all shredded to tinsel and fired with a mighty poot from Costner’s tailpipe. What a terrific let down.
So when I saw the teaser for Ford v. Ferrari — based on famous mid-60s Le Mans racing battles — I was at once excited and petrified. This period in racing is one about which I know a decent amount, and I’m a Shelby enthusiast to boot. This is my Coast Guard. If Mangold goes full Guardian with this, well — it will really, truly suck.
Exhale in relief.
Ford v. Ferrari is a really good movie. It’s historically interesting, full of character, engaging, upbeat, and smartly paced. And it brings a fascinating period in racing to the screen in glorious color while giving even race-agnostics (1) a reason to watch and (2) a possible point of entry to eventual fandom. In other words, it gives us gearheads plenty of revs while keeping our dates happy to boot. See it loud and see it again. (Really: I’ve already screened it twice and it’s not even out yet.)
The idea in brief: It’s the sixties. Baby boomers are coming of age and shopping for cars. Ford needs a way to sell to this new generation — and one approach is to win races. After a curious bid to buy out Ferrari (brilliant on track but broke) falls through, tempers flare and Henry Ford II (aka, “the Deuce”, played by Tracy Letts) marshals the might of FoMoCo to build a world-killer race car and beat Ferrari at his own game: the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Enter Carroll Shelby (Matt Damon), a charismatic and successful racing driver sidelined by heart trouble and now building rocket-fast race cars (the mighty Cobra), and Ken Miles (Christian Bale), a grouchy mechanic and active racing driver who’ll hurl a wrench at your face, then strap in and wring fearsomely quick laps out of your favorite car. Handed a blank check by Ford to design and develop a new race car (the GT40), the two must contend with Ford’s buttoned-up corporate culture, a truly formidable racing adversary, a grueling race, and of course, one another. Plus, Cobras! Plus, period outfits! Haus do want.
The story bounces along, buoyed pretty much equally by the deep bench of supporting talent and the chic sixties sunnies. (Between this and Once Upon a Time … in Hollywood, the sixties outfits are front-of-mind this year.) Ford v. Ferrari takes a couple liberties with its history, but nothing egregious.
My complaints, rather, are thematic and rather more subtle. Mangold is by his own admission not a race fan. So while this is a serviceable racing film, it’s not the work of a true enthusiast — and it shows. The cars are beautifully shot, sure, but key race sequences are laced with typical Hollywood racing gloss — scowling drivers buckling down to speed up, glaring at each other through Perspex, or waxing poetic in gravelly voice-overs about that magical point where man and machine become one. Too bad. I mean, I get that not every director is a race nut (so not every car film is Cars), but Mangold could have at least hired one to inject a bit of inside-baseball Cobra porn to the visuals (and cut the trope-shots). Opportunity missed.
In all, Ford v. Ferrari takes its place on the podium among the great racing films of recent years. It tells a good story and it’ll please a big crowd. With some enthusiast advice in hand, Mangold could have really driven the door handles off this and left us with something transcendent, instead of just great — but hey, when the alternative is a ghostly Costner, great is good enough.
Start your engines. I’m seeing it again very soon.
(Oh, and for bonus fun: Whenever Damon and Bale squabble, squint and see it as Jason Bourne versus Batman. You’re welcome.)
Haus Verdict: A roaring period piece that’s full-on fun and properly well made. It’s missing the enthusiast’s touch, but in the end, still a great racing film.
Ford v. Ferrari opens Friday, November 15.
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