Telluride: Sasha Stone reviews Ford v Ferrari
Ford v Ferrari has had its world premiere in Telluride. Having an expansive studio pic like this kick off the festival is a powerful reminder of what big studios can do when at their best, this amid a sea of independents that can often dominate festival season. Christian Bale and Matt Damon play two giants of the automotive industry whose friendship eventually led to a showdown at Le Mans. Naturally the film is about car racing, specifically about what makes a great driver and a winning racing team versus an ordinary effort. It turns out that what makes anyone great at anything is usually that they are doing it not for the money, not for the prizes, but for the pure love of the thing.
Likewise, the best films are made for the pure love of the thing, as are the best performances. Here we get to witness that elusive animal seen all too rarely these days: a studio film that tells an intimate story of love and friendship that also delivers epic thrills that mainstream audiences crave. Big budget movies this elaborate that don’t have protagonists who come from other planets find are hard to make past the pitch stage, much less get made and released in theaters. Ford v Ferrari is the kind of movie that used to have millions people lining up to see it, and if it catches fire the way it should, it will likely be collecting major accolades at the end of the year.
Directed by James Mangold, from a script by Jez Butterworth, John-Henry Butterworth, and Jason Keller, Ford v Ferrari crackles with dry humor as it tells a story that might not have seemed all that exciting on the page. Ford Motor Company, managed by Henry Ford II (a very funny and stodgy Tracy Letts), wants to be known as a company that makes fast cars, so they hire Carroll Shelby (Damon) to race Le Mans in hopes of beating the current champion of speed, Ferrari.
The conflict arises when Shelby wants the driver to be Ken Miles (Bale), whereas Ford wants someone who is more of a “team player,” as in, “you do what we tell you to do.” But it is precisely the same quality in Miles that thinks for himself that makes him such a great driver. They can put anyone behind the wheel and teach them how to drive. But to drive like THAT requires something extra. That something extra turns out not to be so corporate friendly.
William Goldman once described great storytelling as something that the thing you expect to happen, but not in the way that you expect it. Ford v Ferrari doesn’t step outside the formula of this kind of story: you know which points it has to hit and hit those points it does. But the mechanics of the plot doesn’t even matter because it is such a joy to watch a film that revels in spectacular racing sequences as well as careening through intimate scenes between Miles, his wife, and his son. Mangold isn’t here to show off or reinvent the wheel, but to tell a good story. And tell a good story he does.
With gorgeous cinematography by Phedon Papamichael, a propulsive score by Marco Beltrami and Buck Sanders, and a kick-ass sound design team, we are swept up in the world of racing very fast cars and into the minds of the men crazy enough to get behind the wheel. So much of the joy of this movie is simply watching Miles’ son (an excellent Noah Jupe) watch his father race. His wife (Caitriona Balfe) doesn’t have much to do, but is probably the one wife in a movie like this that isn’t discouraging her husband from doing the one thing he most loves to do.
The acting ensemble is a tight cluster of top notch turns, but the film likely belongs to Christian Bale. Last seen gaining weight and losing his soul to play Dick Cheney, here Bale shape shifts yet again to a gaunt frame, this time as Ken Miles, a family man who knows cars and racing more than anyone. There isn’t a second of this film that we don’t believe he’s really that guy behind the wheel, grinding gears, pedal to the metal, lapping his challengers. The chemistry between Bale and Damon is what makes the movie move the way it does, along with the script that gives them ample opportunity to spar. All the same, it’s when Bale is alone in the race car figuring out how to win and survive where the film really sings.
Ford v Ferrari is a celebration of the kind of film that only a deep-pocket American studio can make. Big story, big film shoots, big stars, and all must be seen a big screen. At some point in our cloudy past, big studios seemed to give up on the thing they do best. Like Henry Ford II, they wanted to win, but they became afraid to take chances. Why risk millions on an unpredictable unknown quantity that has no pre-awareness, no brand, no origin story, no prequel? Why trust that audiences today might still want to see what audiences have always wanted to see? It costs too much, it risks too much.
But here, with James Mangold’s very fine film Ford v Ferrari, we have proof that when a gamble comes up aces, it pays off big time. The result is the kind of movie that audiences can love but forgot how to love because they rarely get to see them anymore. Movies by great directors demand to be seen as big and wide as possible, especially when you get your money’s worth. From vivid personal joys and confrontations to exceptional, breathtaking fast cars zooming around race tracks, Mangold gives us what we paid to see.
I’m not sure why people are declaring Best Actor as the most crowded field in years. Every single year it seems crowded, but then naturally the weak links fall to the wayside. I think right now the front runners would be considered…
Phoenix – Joker
Bale – FvF
Driver – Marriage Story (w/ The Report and Star Wars helping secure the nomination)
Sandler – Uncut Gems
Banderas – Pain and Glory (can’t all be white, right, and Laundromat helps)
And think the second tier looks like…
DiCaprio – Hollywood
Edgerton – Rocketman
Hanks – Neighborhood
DeNiro – Irishman (Joker helps)
Chalamet – The King (Little Women helps)
I think Ed Norton and Eddie Murphy will be busts. And Pitt is Ad Astra will only help his chances in Supporting for Hollywood.
I think Hanks is going supporting …. Rhys is lead.
Maybe just Jonathan Pryce as well.
Ian McKellen
Michael B Jordan
I hope DiCaprio will be nominated again.
“I hope DiCaprio will be nominated again.”
why ? because you like him? thats not how it works…empathy is not the only thing an actor needs to get nominated. He needs to prove much more than that.
Because I think he was incredible in the movie ….
“incredible” huh ? you dont even know what made you say that word…i think you should be able to seperate fanboying and judgement..you sound more like the former
I thought he was incredible in that movie as well, and it’s no doubt a nomination level performance at the minimum. Fantastic work by Leo in that film.
nope…he is not playing a character…he is playing himself as he does in all his movies…nufff said
you are making arguments from historic preservation….. nostalgia….. that a particular genre, the big indie, which used to be common, paid actors well, and stroked their egos with big publicity, should be honored above all else, even though they are an insignificantly small part of the overall scene,
The big indies, movie movies, the actor-driven drama genre, should all be part of the Spirit Awards, not the Oscars. The Academy could then move on from the past, and focus on the actual work of the film industry….. or become a living museum exhibit (“see, they make em as good as ever”)
Once upon a Time’s $100 million is very Austin Powers.
I want to see this movie, so bad. I think this will be a hit. People love car racing movies. Days of thunder, adventures of ford fairline, cars, fast an the furious. https://media1.giphy.com/media/PY6rZl1vZwLra/giphy.gif
On another note, Waves looks like it’s being very well received (I narrowly stopped myself making the terribly obvious pun there)… Sasha has been singing it’s praises on Twitter and the few reviews I’ve seen for it are very positive. However, I’m not hearing very much about it outside of a few people so maybe that means it’s not going to get enough exposure to be an awards vehicle but I’m really excited for it regardless – I really liked both It comes at night and Krisha!
And First Man should’ve been a hit too, but wasn’t. It only made 44 million in the US. I honestly don’t know what to expect for this film as far as the box office goes.
bale + damon + mangold >>>> gosling + damien
They are huge overseas…le mans is huge overseas….i think the american success story angle to this movie helps it sell to middle america. Firstman gave off too cool for middle america vibes and was treated as such. This thing is gonna do bonkers business in france, italy, brazil, russia, japan and more european countries.
You weren’t Bobby Peru in a previous life, we’re you?
ask your mom
More importantly legitimate word is a masterpiece has been unveiled at this festival: Uncut Gems.
I actually can’t get a good read on it… It seems like most people don’t know how to talk about it which presumably is a good thing because it means it is genuinely interesting and unique but I’m just waiting to see more reactions.
Ford v Ferrari has a good shot at becoming a hit. The title Ford v Ferrari sells itself to a certain American demo and the trailer’s been getting good reactions in theaters.
That’s why it is a bit curious to me why it is released in the UK and other European countries as Le Mans ’66. Will that really sell better than Ford vs Ferrari?
In some ways it makes sense the other way around, if the filmmakers wanted to name the film Le mans ’66 but knew that Americans probably don’t really know what that is that well and choose instead to emphasize an “American carmaker against European carmaker” angle, trying to more American. And in a lot of countries they seem to have installed secondary titles to the name to push it closer to the tone of “Ford v. Ferrari” and make it seem more like a duel film about overcoming odds, such as “Le mans ’66 – Against All Odds”, “Le mans ’66 – A Duel”, “Le mans ’66 – The Grand Challenge” and “Le mans ’66 – On Full Power”
No, Le Mans 66 won’t sell better. It’s a weak title. It won’t reach people who weren’t born then and know nothing about it.
you are getting this information from the stars ? marketing team for the movie must have done their research to come up with this till for international markets