Damon and Bale Crush it in Racing Drama Ford v Ferrari

Felt compelled as a proud owner of a Ford Mustang – twice and fan of Christian Bale and Matt Damon to make it my business to check out Ford v Ferrari.  Not to mention the fact that I am a huge race car fan and one point actually contemplated pursuing this for a living (as if I don’t already do enough…lol).  Yet, I  don’t know about you but I have always wondered why the Ford Motor Company designed a sports car.  Some while ago, my curiosity was partially  filled by the documentary A FASTER HORSE.

Now, director James Mangold tells the tale of Carroll Shelby and Ken Miles whose resources from the Ford Motor Company afforded them the opportunity to go toe-to-toe with the gods of Italian auto racing – Ferrari.

Shelby (Matt Damon) wins France’s prestigious 24 Hours of Le Mans race in 1959, a rare feat for any race car driver. Yet, a weak heart valve stops his career cold in its tracks.  Miles (Christian Bale) owns and operates an auto repair shop, but his special gift lies in being a brilliant race car driver. Once Lee Iacocca (Jon Bernthal)  looks to expand Ford’s family brand with some race car sexiness, Shelby and Miles stand become the perfect team to build and race Enzo Ferrari (Remo Girone).   The problem therein lies whether or not these hot-headed startup dudes coupled with a corporate titan are able grab road racing’s ultimate prize.

Although I loved learning about the Ford v Ferrari feud and how Fiat came in flipping everything upside down and standout performances from Matt Damon and Christian Bale, this film’s energy and pacing didn’t kick in for quite some time.  Once it did, I was all in!  I was enthralled to witness Jon Bernthal (who BTW is absolutely wonderful) star in a film where he wasn’t playing someone unsavory, but a powerful businessman – diversity at it’s finest.   If you are a luxury/race car enthusiasts historian or just someone who loves to watch films about car racing, you will enjoy what Ford v Ferrari has to offer.  Produced by 20th Century Fox and Chernin Entertainment, you can judge for yourself when it hits screens on November 15th.