Ford V Ferrari reviewed.

First off, it is very seldom that you get to witness powerhouse performers like Matt Damon, Christian Bale and Jon Bernthal work together in a film scripted by Butterworth brothers and helmed by James Mangold. Lately, anything that James Mangold touches turns into gold (Having said that, I am also a big big fan of his earlier work including Knight and Day and Identity. Logan sealed it).

And the Butterworth brothers, well, their script works like clockwork. So does Matt Damon’s deliciously simply charisma. So does Christian Bale’s ability to play difficult and awkward characters with sheer ease. And that in nutshell is Ford V Ferrari. Clockwork.

The film starts with a bang on a race track and ends with a heavy heart right on the race track. Ford V Ferrari is a story which derives from the crazies of the characters and the lengths to which a human can push himself/herself if need be. There is ego. There is passion. There is downright arrogance and downright envy. It’s all there. A bunch of grown men trying to prove a point at the cusp of the booming capitalism led from the front by the Automobile industry.

Well, there is Ford, which is, well, FORD. It makes cars. For the masses. Like the Crown Victoria; a people mover. A boring car company which is already over living its past glory days. It’s headed by a Ford. Surrounding Ford are a bunch of hard ass executives doing their thing and running his business for him. And then, there is Ferrari. Ferrari is, well, Ferrari. They’re fast. Very very fast. Not a people mover. A consistent winner at the iconic 24 hours Le Mans circuit. The holy grail of motorsport racing. One thing leads to another and Ford finds itself challenging Ferrari in the 24 Le Mans. A next to impossible task.Matt Damon as Caroll Shelby is an affable maverick car engineer-race car driver who has successfully moved onto engineering cars and selling them after having won the Le Mans. He is a hero. He is the one who is responsible to make sure FORD pips FERRARI at Le Mans. Enter Ken Miles; an eccentric egoistic sensitive warm hearted insanely talented race car driver and engineer. Christian Bale nails this role with relative ease. I would be doing injustice to the character if I would use adjectives to describe how good Bale is. The dynamics of car racing combined with the wonderful camaraderie of Caroll Shelby and Ken Miles overlapping the corporate fish mongering forms the basis of the movie. And at 3 plus hours, I didn’t find myself to be bored as such even once.

The performances, writing and direction is all top notch. The ensemble delivers and the race scenes give you goose bumps. This movie has got to be a pinnacle of sorts when it comes to the technical work. The sound mixing and the subtle special effects blew my mind. I found myself transported to the race track in Le Mans all throughout the big race; the long night.

The way the character layers unfold is real and gradual and the personal demons of the main characters form the primary part of the story; the race acts like a mere premise. There is the build up and then the BIG race.

Then the heart wrenching end of the movie right after the glory of FORD. This movie cannot be missed. It’s a pity it released this year; or else Christian Bale would be running for the Oscar. This year, the slot has already been taken. No prizes for that guess.

Ford V Ferrari; Knock yourself out.