Rush (2013 film)
2013
Search results
Nov 15, 2019 · A period racing picture starring Christian Bale and Matt Damon as car designers who challenge Ferrari at Le Mans. The film is praised for its human drama, dialogue, and realistic racing sequences by Roger Ebert critic Glenn Kenny.
Read critics' reviews and ratings for Ford v Ferrari, a movie about the 1966 race between Ford and Ferrari at Le Mans. See the trailer, cast, and top critic opinions.
- (360)
- James Mangold
- PG-13
- Matt Damon
Nov 14, 2019 · “Ford v Ferrari” is no masterpiece, but it is — to invoke a currently simmering debate — real cinema, the kind of solid, satisfying, nonpandering movie that can seem endangered nowadays.
- James Mangold
- A.O. Scott
- 152 min
Aug 31, 2019 · Christian Bale and Matt Damon star as Carroll Shelby and Ken Miles, who teamed up with Ford to beat Ferrari at Le Mans in 1966. The film is a Horatio Alger-esque American success story, but lacks the thrill and drama of the sport and the rivalry.
People also ask
Is Ford v Ferrari a good movie?
How long is Ford v Ferrari?
Who plays Ford v Ferrari?
Is Ford v Ferrari based on a true story?
- Christian Bale and Matt Damon play the masterminds behind Ford’s efforts to defeat Ferrari at Le Mans ’66.
- Best Reviewed Movies of 2019
- Ford v. Ferrari Gallery
- Verdict
By Chris Tilly
Updated: Sep 24, 2019 6:15 pm
Posted: Sep 12, 2019 9:30 pm
This is an advance review out of the Toronto International Film Festival. Ford v Ferrari opens Nov. 15 in the US and UK and Nov. 14 in Australia.
You can watch our video review for Ford v Ferrari in the player above.
There’s a scene near the end of Ford v Ferrari – renamed Le Mans ’66 in some territories – where driver Ken Miles (Christian Bale) heads to the track the night before the legendary endurance race to steady his nerves. There’s a similar moment in Rocky, the night before his fight with Apollo Creed. Yet by that point in the boxing film, the audience understands Balboa, cares about the character, and is willing him to win. In Ford v Ferrari, there are no such emotions attached to Ken Miles, and two hours in – with the finish line still some distance away – you find yourself less willing him to win, and more willing the film to end.
For Ford’s marketing team – headed up by Jon Bernthal’s Lee Iacocca – Ferrari represents victory and success, so they target the iconic Le Mans race, with plans to defeat the seemingly unbeatable Italian team. They believe Shelby is the man for the job, asking him to assemble his own team of engineers and drivers, and to build the fastest car in the world, all in the space of 90 days.
Shelby turns to Ken Miles, a complicated, argumentative guy who scares off sponsors, and rarely listens to team orders. But Miles is a brilliant driver, coming off the back of wins at Daytona and Sebring, meaning that in 1966 he could potentially pull off the ultimate motorsports hat-trick.
His woefully underwritten wife Mollie (Caitriona Balfe) – there to worry, nag and support as required – doesn’t want him to enter the dangerous arena of Le Mans. But the pair have money troubles of their own, and the prospect of a huge payday, as well as the opportunity to write his name in history, proves too tempting for Ken, and he accepts the gig.
Watch the trailer for Ford v Ferrari below:
What follows is a pretty conventional sports movie. Miles is the maverick pushing the car to its limits while striving for the perfect lap. Leo Beebe (a deliciously slimy Josh Lucas) is the Ford VP who wants someone more malleable in the hot seat: “We need a Ford-type driver in a Ford car – that’s the Ford way,” he tells his boss after another Ken Miles outburst. And Shelby is caught in the middle, appeasing the suits at head office while at the same time trying to control his fiery friend.
Trouble is, it’s all so very predictable. Miles loses his seat, but you don’t think for a second that he won’t win it back. Miles is losing the race, but you don’t for a second think he won’t pull it back. What these men achieved, in such a short space of time, was nothing short of miraculous. But that doesn’t necessarily translate into an engaging story, and for much of its punishing run-time, Ford v Ferrari fails to get out of third gear.
That said, the racing scenes are shot with real energy and vigor, director James Mangold and cinematographer Phedon Papamichael putting you in the Ford, then on the track, then between the cars, making for some exhilarating driving sequences. But Le Mans is 24 hours of drivers speeding in circles, which doesn’t make for exciting cinema. And while the filmmakers try to inject some suspense into the race’s bizarre climax, the chequered flag arrives with a whimper rather than a bang.
Of the leads, Damon has little to do as Shelby aside from be likably determined, which he achieves without breaking a sweat. Bale has the more showy role as Miles, and he’s convincing as a genius behind the wheel, and a bit of a clown when not. But whether its Bale’s fault, or down to the script by Jez Butterworth, John-Henry Butterworth, and Jason Keller, we never truly get a sense of what makes Ken Miles tick, nor what drives him to keep putting his life on the line for the sake of a race.
Like a race car without an engine, Ford v Ferrari looks good on the surface, but fails to motor for its 150-minutes. There’s fun to be had watching the Ford executives clash, and the driving scenes are shot with real artistry and skill, but they’re interspersed with scenes of true inertia; of Ken Miles listening to the radio while fixing his car, o...
- Chris Tilly
FORD V FERRARI is an extremely entertaining and intelligent film made with the same type of drive for excellence that possessed the creators Ken Miles, Carroll Shelby and Enzo Ferrari and...
Aug 30, 2019 · ‘Ford v Ferrari’: Film Review | Telluride 2019. THR review: Christian Bale and Matt Damon play 1960s racing legends Ken Miles and Carroll Shelby, respectively, in 'Ford v Ferrari,'...
