3 Stars — Thought-provoking
“Ford v Ferrari” is a car-lovers dream story. It combines speed, bravado, testosterone and a reckless pursuit of happiness. It also is an entertaining but lengthy look at the real-life competition that pitted the Ford Motor Co. against the Italian Ferrari, the ultimate standard for speed and satisfying the red-blooded male ego.
The Ford Motor Co. is part large-corporate-interests and part family-business dating back to its founder, Henry Ford. By 1966, Ford’s president, Henry Ford II (Tracy Letts), was a committed corporate leader surrounded by very smart yes-men feeding his self-interests. Henry Junior was feeling bent out of shape that the competition was portraying his empire as second rate, and he wanted an antidote.
His second-in-command, Lee Iacocca (Jon Bernthal), proposed a very public response with Ford building a car for speed and attention — the Ford Mustang. One version of the car would be for every young kid who wanted to drive a hot car, but Ford also would build a version that could compete and win the coveted race at Le Mans, France. With Henry’s blessing, the Ford executives sought to find the best and brightest car designers in the country, which included world racing champion Carroll Shelby (Matt Damon) and the irascible driver and car-whisperer Ken Miles (Christian Bale).
The Ford team viewed Shelby as the “gold standard” of racing, but they also held a deep suspicion of the public persona of Miles, who they feared could sink their tightly controlled public relations stunt.
Everything at Ford centered on keeping Mr. Ford happy, and as a result, everything at Ford was based on an internal working ethos that was wound tighter than a Swiss clock. Shelby knew that the Le Mans race was not winnable without the talent of Miles, but the Ford team wanted to win and have a public relations explosion with a sex symbol driver at the wheel for the photographers. Needless to say, Ford won the praise they sought, but Shelby and Miles won the race.
The history of the rivalry between Henry Ford II and Italian legend Enzo Ferrari (Remo Girone) is well-known, and the ultimate huge success of the Ford Mustang continues today. Unless you are a car aficionado, though, you probably don’t know the details of the famous race, which Ford wins at Le Mans for four straight years beginning with the 1966 dramatic story portrayed in this film.
Whether true or not, car king Henry II comes across as a spoiled, self-absorbed rich kid, Miles steals the show and Shelby comes out as an honorable icon of the racing world. The film is a great piece of filmmaking and a well-told story.
What values drive these men to make the decisions that they do? Miles’ son, Peter (Noah Jupe), is watching his father and his colleagues every step of the way and portrays a keen observer of their motivations. Enzo Ferrari exhibits an admiration of beauty and art perfected in a classic car, while Henry Ford shows a self-absorbed personality disorder with an ambitious and demanding loyalty of those who surround him. Shelby shows a love of what he does and is inclusive in his character, while Ken Miles is singularly focused on perfection even if it means wrestling with everyone, including his family and friends.
All great leaders are also flawed human beings; it is just their fame that draws the focused attention on their character, values, and life practices. They are no different than the rest of us, save for the fact that the public has an insatiable thirst to know what makes them tick. Public personalities, for good or for bad, become role models in a global society. With that in mind, “Ford vs Ferrari” is a textbook that will challenge your sense of values.
Discussion
» Directed by James Mangold, who is a specialist in telling action tales, this journey to victory is woven with human frailty. How do you see this being true in your own life journey?
» This film portrays the compulsive drive for excellence in both human and machine. Where else do we see this — in computers, social media, military, politics and other areas of human life?
» Do you think all of us share the same degree of flawed humanity, or is there a line over which some will not pass? Is that line internal or external, human or spiritual? Can we find a balm for our sin-sick souls?
— Cinema in Focus is a social and spiritual movie commentary. Hal Conklin is a former mayor of Santa Barbara and Denny Wayman is the retired pastor of Free Methodist Church of Santa Barbara and lead superintendent of Free Methodist Church in Southern California. For more reviews, visit www.cinemainfocus.com, or follow them on Twitter: @CinemaInFocus. The opinions expressed are their own.