Car Talk

At the last Oscars, there were enough Best Picture contenders I wasn't interested in that I knew I'd never get around to seeing them all. But there was one I just hadn't gotten around to yet (and that simply had no chance of winning): Ford v Ferrari. Recently, I was able to cross it off the list.

Ford v Ferrari is the story of the 1966 race at Le Mans, in which a team of racers for Ford were vying to end the annual domination of the event by Ferrari. It's a pretty classic underdog story -- a tale of the working class against the execs, of people who know best fighting to overcome the short-sightedness of those who think they know better.

There is essentially nothing here you haven't seen before. Screen writers have diligently molded real-world events to fit the three-act structure. You don't need to Google anything about the history beforehand to know exactly how the story is going to end. You can even guess the various obstacles and setbacks along the way.

The cast has been carefully chosen to play the types of roles they've repeatedly proven good at: Matt Damon at his maximum aw-shucks-iness as he quietly inspires and leads his team, and Christian Bale as a volatile asshole who gets results but is hard to work with. There's a solid-enough supporting cast including Jon Bernthal and Josh Lucas, but the script gives them all archetypes to play more than characters.

Sounds like I didn't like it much, doesn't it? And yet...

Ford v Ferrari may not be a gymnast pulling off some crazy new flip no one has ever managed before. It simply goes out there and executes a flawless routine, perfectly executing move after move. Let's be honest: if you watch this movie, you're watching it for the race sequences, not the talk between. And those sequences are excellent. Director James Mangold has worked with his team to seamlessly blend clever camera positioning, great stunt work and CG, and tight editing (which won the Oscar), to deliver really kinetic and exciting action.

And the not-so-secret weapon that pushes it over the top is the sound design. Best Sound Editing was this movie's other Oscar win, and it's the reason the whole thing works. This movie is brash, noisy, and effective -- and the sound effects work in perfect accord with a slick and cool musical score by Marco Beltrami and Buck Sanders. I remain confused why this movie was up for Best Picture, but there's no question it deserved the editing awards for picture and sound that it did win.

All told? I'd probably give the movie a B-. It's not essential viewing, but if you're into auto racing and somehow haven't seen it already, you're certain to at least enjoy it.