In Ford v Ferrari,
It starts with a hissy fit by the Ford CEO, informing his top executives and technical staff that the company is losing out to Chevrolet, and must come up with sexy new cars, pronto or else. One idea is the Ford Mustang, launched by Ford executive
In a memorable scene, Ferrari dresses down Iacocca, telling him to go back to his "fat car factory" full of "fat car executives," before lambasting the company's CEO: "He is not
" Ford the Second does not take this taunt lightly, and enlists car expert Shelby to assemble the best team possible to create the fastest car ever built, one that will blow Ferrari off the road. The race scenes themselves early ones meant to establish Shelby and Miles' racing cred, during the testing of Ford's fast new cars, and especially the final Le Mans showdown are sheer adrenaline, every bit as nervy and thrilling as a
Mangold, last seen directing Logan, has a feel for action it's not all flash, there's plenty of grit in there, too. Sitting center row in a cinema as about as close as I'd want to get to the Le Mans high-speed death traps.
Women are conspicuously absent in this bromance between Damon and Bale, with only Ken's long-suffering wife Mollie (
Playing a British driver doesn't sound like a stretch for Bale, but as usual he slips, chameleon-like, into the details: notice the deeply tanned look, the crinkled crows' feet, the slightly crazed expression on his face, and his shuffling gait: whether he's normal or nutty, Bale always plays deep left field. You could say Bale is drawn to characters who think differently, who are slightly hobbled by their social handicaps.
Take the hedge fund manager with mild Asperger's in The Big Short, or his bad-wig, big-hearted con artist in American Hustle, or even side-sneering war freak
You never really get to understand what drives people like Miles and Shelby, though there are bits where Damon explains to us, in voiceover, the effects on the body of traveling at speeds over 200 miles per hour, when the engines rev beyond 7,000 rpms. It's apparently a moment that tells you who you are, as a person.
And that's about it. But it's mostly a character study of individualist types up against corporate boardroom mentality.
There are lots of scenes of sexy cars here, and lots of talk about engine capacity, torque and RPMs, but even if that's not your thing, the action alone will keep you fairly glued to the seat, and the camaraderie between Bale and Damon is loose and entertaining. Interestingly, Ford v Ferrari is one of the first adult-market films released by
In many ways, it has the plucky, come-from-behind feel of a
There are side bets involving a jealous Beebe and treacherous bits from the Italian team and the rivalry alone makes Ford v Ferrari worth the ride. Bale, playing oddball engine and racing expert
© Pakistan Press International, source