Movie Review: Ford V/S Ferrari (Hollywood)

Producers- James Mangold, Peter Chernin and Alex Young

Director- James Mangold

Star Cast- Christian Bale, Matt Damon, Jon Bernthal, Caitriona Baife, Tracy Letts

Genre- Adventure

Rating- ***1/2 (Three and a half)

Adrenalin Raising Edge of the Seat Saga!

Jyothi Venkatesh

The film revolves around how American automotive designer Carroll Shelby and fearless British race car driver Ken Miles battle corporate interference, the laws of physics and their own personal demons to build a revolutionary vehicle for the Ford Motor Co. Together, they even dare to compete against the race cars of Enzo Ferrari at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in France in 1966.

On the side of the Ford Motor Company are Carroll Shelby ( Matt Damon ), car designer, and Ken Miles ( Christian Bale ), the racing driver. Both are war veterans and passionate about speed, but Shelby has given up the races after winning Le Mans in 1959 and Miles is about to hit bottom due to economic problems and also his past "difficult" reputation. Both the gutsy guys jump at the opportunity to prove themselves again, and set out to design the Ford GT40 and test it against Ferrari, which has been winning for 5 consecutive years.

Kudos to the director James Mangold, who also dabbles as one of the producers of the film, for striking the right balance between drama and show, sustained by the main performances, attractive secondary roles, a captivating plot and the best high scenes speed that the cinema has to offer these days, in spite of the film stretching on and on and meandering towards the end of its two and a half hours running time. The highlight of the film is that not only do we feel the speed of the cars but also the weight of the machines and how real the risk of a second to second accident is.

The movie is based on a true story but the last one hour of it is about how Miles and Shelby fight back against edicts from the Ford Company, in the form of Josh Lucas’ Leo Beebe, who is Ford’s right hand man. Though the director sets up Mile’s relationship with his wife (Caitrionie Balfe) and son Peter (Noah Jupe), being just as vital in telling what is essentially Mile’s , one should admit that Bale’s portrayal as Niles is what keeps the film interesting, as there are far more stakes in him winning Le Mans than for Shelby or for that matter Ford.

I should thank Puneet Gupta of Inox, Malad for having invite me to see the film which is nothing but an Adrenalin raising edge of the seat saga,  with a magnificent ambiance at Screen X in the world's first multiplex with not just one or two but six formats under one roof Megaplex, which transports you out of the world with its Cinerama like screen setting.

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