Ford v Ferrari, written by Jez Butterworth, John-Henry Butterworth and Jason Keller - Nine out of 10

Ford v Ferrari, written by Jez Butterworth, John-Henry Butterworth and Jason Keller

Nine out of 10

First of all, for this viewer the mesmerizing Christian Bale deserved to win the Golden Globe – awarded just a few a hours ago, on a personal view to the least deserving of the nominees, not to mention some of the Korean cast for the superb Parasite, not even nominated – much more than Taron Egerton – although we are talking rather different categories, for, unlike the Oscars, the globes have musical and comedies set apart from drama for the most part.

Otherwise, Ford v Ferrari, also known as Le Mans in some territories, presents the undersigned with a quandary and questions on some levels, starting with the core symbol of the story, which although quite simple, does not sound that way from a different perspective, because if we feel that the heroes and role models are clearly Ken Miles aka wonderful Christian Bale and Carroll Shelby aka equally wondrous Matt Damon, the antihero seems to be the often repellent Leo Beebe aka very good Josh Lucas, as a Ford executive, finally in charge of their racing car unit.

Only it is not that simple, for if the two legends are brave, creative, admirable, educational from so many points of view, Leo Beebe is quite right in some of the decisions he takes and which  that appall the two main characters and most of all the audience, even if the racing teams take those decisions almost all the time, though this provokes drama and sometimes scandal, animosity between the team members, they do communicate to the driver that is placed lower in the ranks in the championship in general that he has to slow down and let the other member of the team pass by him, because he stands a better chance at the end of the season to bring points and glory for them…

Granted, the ford executive, as depicted in the movie, has taken the decision to slow Miles down from spite mostly, but we could doubt that this is what has really happened and from a different perspective, it even looks like a brilliant move – let us avoid a spoiler alert here and just say that for the good of the company and as a PR move, what happens looks marvelous, though depriving one of some success he actually deserved is more than mean and pitiful, it is plain loathsome.

Then there is the other moment, in which the amazing pilot enters the stable of Ford cars and talks not just depreciatingly, with scorn and disdain, but insulting Beebe and therefore making his later positions rather understandable, though everybody sides with the hero, we should take a pause and consider what the Ford man must have felt when someone comes to his cars and says that they are rubbish more or less and hence, when he has a position of power, he could restrain, sideline the racing car man and we could even think that he is right in saying Miles cannot be trusted to say the right thing about the race, the car and a ‘Ford man has to drive a Ford car’…by the way, this viewer has a Ford Ranger, which might make him subjective, even if he uses a bike for most of the time – the Ford has only about two or three thousand miles accumulated in over about two years and a half…

Having mentioned an alternative view of some scenes, what remains is evidently the performance of the two main personages, the talented, inspired, creative, kind, resilient Carroll Shelby, who stands by his driver whenever he can and regrets the moments when he is overruled by the said Beebe, and he even bets big – his company no less – to gain the approval to use Miles as the pilot for the coveted Le Mans – by the way, what happened to it, why is it history now…because of so much more concern with safety, the astronomical expense that would be involved or lastly, trying to save the planet, with race people do not think much about presumably, since their pleasure is to burn tires and consume train loads of fuel.

Ken miles has another moment when we can appreciate his determination, but also his impulsiveness, unreliable manner, impetuosity and easily infuriated persona, when he is told by a commissioner for a race that the boot of his beautiful car does not close and therefore the car is not allowed to compete and he has tantrum – not Trump size, but still – and then he confronts Shelby and as a result he throws one big tool and he smashes the windshield and has to drive with this ‘new design’

We can all appreciate that, sure, but in an educational film, which this surely is on quite a few levels, we can also look at the fun we extract  from moments such as the stealing of Italian stopwatches – which might have had an impact on the result of that race – and the placement of a ‘missing part’ near the same Ferrari stand and contemplate the effects – what if the race would have been won as a result of small, but effective cheating…after all, at least these days, a difference of a second may seem big in some circumstances…

One other interesting episode had Ford trying to buy Ferrari – though today merging seems to be all the rage, the latest having FCA – which includes Ferrari – merge with Peugeot, after the failed one with Renault, once led by the controversial, now an escapee from ‘injustice’ in Japan, Carlos Ghosn – but that looked like only a scheme designed by Enzo Ferrari to try and get a better bid from Enzo Fiat and the resulting rejection – ‘go back to your ‘bruta’ aka ugly factory – would make Henry Ford II – the ‘pig head who is not Henry Ford – decide to do whatever it takes, pay no matter what cost to win Le Mans and bury Ferrari under the finish line.

This film seems to be one of the best of 2019, superior to Knives Out, Rocketman anyway, though those two were nominated for the Golden Globes in the Musical – comedy category, and as aforementioned, Christian Bale was astounding and much better than the actor who renders Rocketman…