Ford v Ferrari: Movie Review

Ford told him to keep it under 6000, but Ken Miles didn't listen.

Ford Vs Ferrari follows Carol Shelby, racing legend turned car manufacturer, and Ken Miles, gifted driver and engineer, through their contributions to Ford's GT40 victory against Ferrari's 330 P3 in the race '24 hours of Le Mans' from 1966 to 1969.

At the start of the movie, Carol Shelby (played by Matt Damon) has retired from racing and is running his own company, Shelby American, when he is approached by Ford Motors to help them craft a car that can outrace the defending champion at the Le Mans, Ferrari. He employs Ken Miles (Played by Christian Bale) to lead in the construction of the car, as well as to be its driver during the actual race.

Matt Damon is excellent in this film. Although his character is not expanded upon much, he still manages to make it clear how much he cares for the art of racing and the difficulties that surround it. He and Christian Bale easily convey the deep friendship between their characters, as despite having almost no explanation of their friendship, the chemistry between the two is apparent and also touching at times.

Christian Bale plays his character amazingly. Disregarding his natural and charming performance as a father, husband and a cocky racer, the happiness and true love for the sport he managed to convey with such depth endears you to his character, despite Ford Motors naming him unlikeable and a "beatneck".

(Carol Shelby, left, and Kent Miles, right)

The film was also shot excellently. It is easy to make scenes of a guy driving a car on long roads boring but the amount of tension and anxiety that is felt when Ken Miles is pushing the cars speed into the red is unbelievable. The scenes revolving around the business politics of Ford Motors is also carried really smoothly. Everything shown was important to the film and you can feel the anger that Henry Ford II (played by Tracy Letts) feels when disrespected by Ferrari and the love that he has for his fathers company.

The film does sprinkle some bits of comedy here and there and it always comes very naturally, which is surprising given the generally serious tone of the movie.
And for the car lovers out there, just watching the classic Ford GT40 race against the Ferrari 330 P3 is a sight to behold.

If I was a lying man, then I would say the film didn't make me cry. But I'm not.

Strongly recommended - 8.5/10

Written by: Nawfal Iqmal