Car Wars

The box office winner (at $21 million domestic and $52 million worldwide) of the past weekend is ‘Ford v Ferrari,’ based on the true story of the rivalry between Ford Motor Company and the world famous Italian racing/sports car manufacturer in the 1960’s.  No doubt it will be easily buried in a massive ‘Frozen’ avalanche the next couple of days, but it’s not a bad start out of the gate at all for this fascinating, well-told and acted movie from ‘The Wolverine’ and ‘Logan’ director James Mangold.

 

You may have heard of this story. Ford attempted a friendly take-over bid for Ferrari back in 1963, which failed spectacularly when it was “played” by Enzo Ferrari to get Fiat to up its bid for the cash-strapped Italian racecar (can be spelled forward or backward, it makes no difference) company.  Adding insult to injured pride, Enzo then made a comment (conveyed second-hand by then Ford executive Lee Iacocca) that Ford “makes ugly little cars in ugly little factories.”  And oh, by the way, he also allegedly said that Henry Ford the Second may be fat.  Them are “fightin’ words” you might say, and an enraged Henry II immediately hired American racing legend and sportscar maker Carroll Shelby, one of the few Americans who won the prestigious and grueling marathon of a race known as the “24 Hours of Le Mans” or just simply Le Mans.  Given carte blanche, Shelby (Matt Damon) recruited his friend and fellow racecar driver/mechanic Ken Miles (Christian Bale) to help engineer the perfect Ferrari killer (the GT40) and to settle this grudge and win the war in the name of baseball, mom and apple pie, I mean Henry Ford  II's wounded pride, by beating Ferrari in their own game at Le Mans.

 

‘Ford v Ferrari’ is a splendid movie that’s simply impossible not to love.  It’s got compelling drama, heart-felt bromance and a fascinating real-life story, topped off with exciting, heart-pounding racecar action revving with rpm.  Admittedly I may be a bit biased here because I like movies about car racing in general, but going by the crowd reaction in the theater this film transcends beyond being just another feel-good “sports movie.”   It’s about friendship, overcoming near impossible odds and, of course, the triumph of the American can-do spirit.  No wonder it’s already getting some early buzz about being an Oscar contender.

Grade: A
 

upload images online