Noteable - Ford vs Ferarri (2019) is a bad title for a great movie
Titling a piece of artwork is hard. Jackson Pollock numbered his paintings and added the date. Led Zeppelin's first four albums are just Led Zeppelin, Led Zeppelin II, Led Zeppelin III, and Led Zeppelin IV. So when I tell you that "Ford vs Ferrari" is a bad title, know that I can't think of a better one except the international title of "Le Mans 66," but you can't trust Americans with language. Most people would probably get mad they had not seen "Le Mans" Parts 1-65 first. Anyway, whatever you want to call it, this movie does chronicle the fight between Ford, Ferrari, and two men trying to win the Le Mans auto race in the year 1966. I list all three because while Ferrari is in the movie as an antagonist, the movie is about bureaucracy vs innovation. It's about a singular expert vision versus die-cast branding. It's about Carol Shelby (Damon) and Ken Miles (Bale) building a car with Ford Motor Company's money to win a race against a giant opponent with Ford not only taking the credit, but co-opting the win. It's a story about a friendship centered around admiration and amazing cars with some of the best, most visceral recorded driving you will see. While the marketing wants you to focus on the winning, pay attention to the fine acting of a solid friendship that is on display.
Here are my notes, beware spoilers
Director: James Mangold (Good Old Wolverine movie)
Writers: Jez Butterworth (Edge of Tomorrow), John-Henry Butterworth (Live Die Repeat), and Jason Keller (Machine Gun Preacher)
Stars: Matt Damon (Team America's not-MATT DAMON), Christian Bale (Batman, Newsie), Jon Bernthal (Netflix's Punisher, Brad)
Early win, people problems
Our story starts centered around two things: Shelby and Miles are amazing at making and racing cars and kinda shitty with people. That's not totally true. Miles is the more caustic of the two, but he's got the good family life while Shelby is better with networking. Early on we see this dynamic work and what is at stake for each.
Like riding a bike
The plane scene may be one of my favorite establishing character moments in recent history. Shelby asks to land the plane they are in and in doing so freaks out every other person in the machine. He's calm and collected in tense moments, able to pull wild stunts even while being the more affable of the main duo.
Great Relationship
Not gonna talk about the bromance here, but about the Miles family. I loved these three, the quiet and kind dynamic they have. Miles and his wife Molly get along amazing with supportive and calming efforts from either. Sure, they have their fights and insane driving stunts while fighting, but they talk it out. And come'on that hanger scene where he's listening on the radio and they dance. Fucking relationship goals right there.
Super tense races
From the quieter moments to the races, the visual display of watching cars go over two hundred miles an hour is arresting at best. I got to see this on IMAX, so the sights and sounds of roaring automobiles filled everything. Then… calm. There's moments of peace, emphasized in the story, that punctuate the more visceral elements of the races.
Great night driving
Something I don't think I've ever really seen is night driving. Most car chases and races happen in brightest day to give the best view of the action, but with races like the 24 Hours at Daytona and Le Mans night racing is required. We don't get a lot of night race action, but what we do get is a clever mix of headlights and overheads, shots framed with silhouettes that speak to the starkness of the race. Compiled with the confusion of crashes, the night event portion gives a good expression of time when we are compressing multiple day-long events.
Stop watches, lug nuts
Okay, giving the moment away where Shelby is actually against Ferrari, it's hilarious to see him troll their pit crew by dropping lug nuts and stealing their stopwatches. "Want a watch? They're Italian" indeed, sir.
Brake problems
The handling of a problem in a story can be fascinating. In real life, the brakes were a problem. They fixed it with a revolutionary tactic in long-form racing: change out the whole brake system. As a story problem, though, is that it almost telegraphs the real ending to the story between Miles and Shelby. While not the exact reason, it gives a pure idea as to how to introduce that what they do is dangerous, and it does it in front of Miles's kid to emphasize the fact. A great story device that was used to show both ingenuity and danger.
Ford Co is the antagonist
You may have noticed, but I don't believe Ferrari as depicted in this movie is the bad guy. Ford Motor Company is, or to be specific, the bureaucrats in charge are. Real life aside, Shelby and Miles fight every step of the way to get their dream (which is also the goal of the company) to fruition. And it's great to see them succeed over that adversity.
He was your friend
This was the bit that almost had me, kids. Right there at the end, perfectly written and acted in such a simple way to sum up the two and a half hours we just watched.