Ford v Ferrari puts two stubborn men in a shed and lets a corporation try to break them. James Mangold’s 2019 film runs 153 minutes and spends them on Carroll Shelby, a retired driver who won Le Mans in 1959, and Ken Miles, a hot-tempered English driver and mechanical engineer. Their job: build a car for Henry Ford II that can beat Enzo Ferrari at the 1966 24 Hours of Le Mans.
Trailer, via 20th Century Studios.
Lee Iacocca’s Offer to Enzo Ferrari
The trouble starts in 1963. Ford vice president Lee Iacocca proposes buying Ferrari to boost car sales. Enzo Ferrari uses the offer to cut a deal with Fiat instead, keeping control of Scuderia Ferrari, and insults Ford and his whole company. Ford orders his racing division to build a car that can win at Le Mans.
Matt Damon plays Shelby. Christian Bale plays Miles. Jon Bernthal is Iacocca, Tracy Letts is Henry Ford II, and Remo Girone is Enzo Ferrari.
The GT40 Mk I at Los Angeles International Airport
Shelby and Miles develop the UK-built Ford GT40 Mk I prototype at Los Angeles International Airport. Miles advises on how to sharpen its performance. At the Mustang launch, he gives a witheringly rude appraisal of the new car to senior vice president Leo Beebe, played by Josh Lucas.
Beebe then campaigns against sending Miles to Le Mans as a public relations liability. Shelby excludes him and sends Phil Hill and Bruce McLaren. No Ford finishes. Miles listens on the radio and realizes he was right about every flaw.
218 mph on the Mulsanne Straight
Ford demands to know why he should not sack Shelby. Shelby argues that the GT40, for all its reliability problems, put fear into Ferrari by hitting 218 mph (350.8 km/h) on the Mulsanne Straight before breaking down.
A race car, he says, cannot be designed by committee. Ford tells him to continue and report directly to him. Testing the GT40 Mk II brings brake fade, a crash and a fire. Miles survives.
| Person | Role | Actor |
|---|---|---|
| Carroll Shelby | Designer, 1959 Le Mans winner | Matt Damon |
| Ken Miles | Driver and engineer | Christian Bale |
| Lee Iacocca | Ford vice president | Jon Bernthal |
| Leo Beebe | Ford senior vice president | Josh Lucas |
| Henry Ford II | Ford executive | Tracy Letts |
| Enzo Ferrari | Ferrari owner | Remo Girone |
What the Film Gets Right
The racing sequences, the editing and the sound design carry the picture. Bale’s Miles is the engine of it — a man who cannot stop telling the truth and pays for it. Damon’s Shelby is the negotiator, and the film is smartest when the two are arguing over the same car.
- Best Film Editing, 92nd Academy Awards
- Best Sound Editing, 92nd Academy Awards
- Four Oscar nominations, including Best Picture
- National Board of Review top ten films of the year
- Bale: Golden Globe and SAG nominations for lead actor
The Corporate Interference
The corporate interference is the real villain here, not Ferrari. Beebe’s campaign against Miles is the film’s sharpest turn, because it makes a public relations problem out of the one man who understands the machine. Ford v Ferrari is a drama about engineering that keeps its head under the hood.
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