Movie Review: Le Mans ’66/Ford v Ferrari

Le Mans ’66/Ford v Ferrari

Director: James Mangold

Starring: Christian Bale, Matt Damon, Jon Bernthal, Caitriona Balfe, Noah Jupe

Rating: PG-13

Runtime: 152 minutes

I’ve loved motoring ever since I was a kid. Not just racing but motoring in general. At 3 years old I could identify every car in the street by name but my interest faded in recent years. Today however Le mans ’66 came out in cinemas, reignited that passion and made me feel like a kid again.

Le Mans ’66 is the story of Carroll Shelby and Ken Miles who are hired by Ford to break the Ferrari winning streak at Le Mans. This is a film about two people working together to achieve a dream despite corporate interference creating conflict between them. It’s an interesting story from a historical standpoint. This movie will appeal to car enthusiasts of course. It’s not 100% accurate but it manages to include enough of the real-life facts while still keeping things entertaining. Some people might be annoyed at that but any film like this is going to make changes for dramatic effect.

James Mangold has done terrific work in the past with films like Walk the line and Logan and he’s done it again here. I won’t get into spoilers but the opening shot is a first-person view of car racing. It’s the perfect way to start a film like this since it throws the audience right into the action and it was a great directorial choice. The camerawork in general throughout the film is spot on, particularly in the race scenes. I was worried that there’d be a lot of shaky-cam and gimmicky stuff but it’s well shot. The race sequences all look clear without sacrificing the excitement or suspense built up through the acting.

Speaking of the acting I have to mention Christian Bale. The cast for this film was good in general but I think this is the best performance of Bale’s career. I don’t say that lightly either since his previous work is fantastic. Bale just sucks the audience in with this portrayal of Ken Miles. The English accent, style of speech, mannerisms, his relationship with Shelby, the aggressive moments and tender ones with his family. It all just adds up to create an incredibly deep and interesting main character. The result was that I was so emotionally invested that I started tearing up at numerous points.

As far as the rest of the cast goes I’d say the more well-known members were the least interesting. Jon Bernthal, for example, plays the part of a Ford executive throughout the film. He’s solid in the film but he’s really only there to get things going. After that, he just becomes a background character. I realise they can only change so much but it would’ve been great to have seen Jon given more to work with.

The film also stars Caitriona Balfe and Noah Jupe. They play Miles’ wife and son respectively and I can’t praise their performances enough. Jupe has proven himself a capable night manager through roles in A quiet place and The night manager. Le Mans ’66 is no different. He mostly plays that little, car-obsessed kid that so many of us were at one point and it’s very relatable. There’s a particular scene around mid-way through the film though where he witnesses something that shocks him. The acting during this scene where the boy is just in shock was incredible and his scenes as he starts realising the risks of racing really tug on the heartstrings. I can’t wait to see more of his acting in the future.

Balfe is probably my favourite part of the film aside from Bale. She’s nuts. Ken Miles was always a car nut and she’s almost as obsessed as he is. It’s incredibly entertaining to watch how their relationship is portrayed. They have confrontations but they almost completely understand each other as people, support and listen to one another. It’s refreshing to see a healthy, loving relationship like this portrayed in the film, even if it can be somewhat cartoonish.

Matt Damon is good in his role as Carroll Shelby. I haven’t seen much of his work, could never take him seriously thanks to Team America. He has a great dynamic going with Bale’s character and the friendship of those characters is a high point here. I particularly enjoyed his acting during the final scenes of the film.

One last paragraph of praise before I move onto my criticisms. The film really uses it’s 60’s setting well. The soundtrack is littered with music from the era and the number of cars featured from back then is obscene. Seriously, even without the Fords and Ferrari, you have classic MG, Volkswagens, Porsche, and Astons showing up everywhere. This movie is a petrolhead’s dream.

Anyway, onto the bad stuff. The film has a lot of stuff that doesn’t really get a payoff, Partially due to it being based on a real story. It’s historical fact that Carroll Shelby had a heart condition that forced his retirement from racing. Nothing can change that but the film gives a lot of focus to this and you never see it paid off. It makes me wonder whether the scenes referencing this issue after his retirement was just to fill time. The ending has a similar effect. There are a scene and a shot towards the end that would be perfect to lead into the credits. Instead, we get two more scenes focused on Shelby that feel unnecessary.

That’s my big complaints but the other one is the handling of foreign languages. We see a number of scenes with Enzo Ferrari where Italian is used. The problem is that subtitles aren’t used consistently. In most of his scenes, there’ll be multiple people speaking Italian and only a few lines are subtitled. It makes those Italian lines with no subtitles feel unimportant, even when it’s Ferrari himself.

Finally, I think Le Mans ’66 is a far more fitting name than Ford v Ferrari. This film really isn’t about them. It touches on the rivalry but at its core, it’s a biopic about Ken Miles with some parts shown from Carroll Shelby’s point-of-view.  Ford vs Ferrari would’ve been a great title for a biopic focusing on the corporate rivalry between the two but it’s just not here.

Overall Le Mans 66’/Ford v Ferrari is a great film. It’s well shot, has amazing acting performances and breath-taking race scenes. It’s got enough of the ’60s in it to appeal to older fans and enough classic cars to make motoring fans swoon. I highly recommend seeing this film even if you’re younger or not as heavily into motoring. It’s got flaws but it’s just a fundamentally great film and a cinematic high point for 2019.

Click here for more movie reviews