Best Pictures #56
2019 (92nd) Academy Awards Best Picture Nominee
2019 (92nd) Academy Awards Best Picture Nominee
“There's a point at 7,000 RPM... where everything fades.”
If Ford v Ferrari feels formulaic that’s because it
is, but it works. It has all the elements of a traditional major studio sports movie:
based on a true story, A-list movie stars, acclaimed journeyman director,
fabulous cinematography, a motley crew of characters challenging conventions,
an underdog angle. A more generous analogy would be Ford v
Ferrari takes a reliable recipe and uses the best ingredients and best
kitchen brigade to deliver an entrée so well done it is almost easy to dismiss. That is almost what happened with this movie. After coming and going at the box office
just before Thanksgiving, it seems the Academy couldn’t dismiss this film entirely and
gave it four Oscar nominations, including Best Picture. They were right to not
let Ford v Ferrari pass without notice because, though it is working
with a familiar recipe, this is an excellently done, engaging entertainment.
Like the title directly states, this movie is about rival
car companies. Specifically, it is about the nascent Ford racing program in the
mid 1960’s taking on the dominant force in international racing, Ferrari. Like
a lot of sports movies, you could argue that this movie isn’t so much about the
sport but about the characters and their journey. Ford v Ferrari is
certainly about car racing but what is most engaging about it is the friendship
between its main characters, racer turned car designer Carroll Shelby (Matt Damon) and racer Ken Miles (Christian Bale). After a slump in
sales, ambitious Ford executive Lee Iacocca hatches a plan to revitalize the car company's image by entering the world of international auto racing and winning the prestigious
marathon race 24 Hours at Le Mans. Ford turns to Shelby to head their racing
program. Shelby, turns to the best driver he knows, Miles, who is the right
driver for the job but does not fit the Ford company image.
At first the accents from the leads are a bit jarring. Damon
is using a full Texas drawl and Bale uses a British accent not his own. Accents
aside, Damon and Bale settle into the their characters quickly and comfortably. They are
A-list stars that give A-list performances with great on-screen chemistry.
Damon as the determined no-nonsense Shelby and Bale as the skilled but at times
abrasive Miles (he’s described as “not a people person”) are not exactly a
mismatched pair; they’re more like yin and yang. Their best scene together is
also the funniest in the movie: they fight each other with groceries. Shelby
has a canned good in his hand, realizes that it would hurt Miles, so he hits
him with a loaf of bread instead. Even when they are trying to hurt each other,
they are trying not to hurt each other.
The real rivalry isn’t between Ford and Ferrari but with
race crew and the Ford executives who don’t understand racing and are only
concerned with corporate image, namely Josh Lucas as Leo Beebee. Lucas is great
performer but there’s nothing to his character aside from being petty and obstructing
Shelby and Miles. I did not care about the Ford motor company winning a race to
gain prestige and sell more cars so rich men could be slightly richer. But I
did care about Shelby and Miles succeeding. Watching them and their crew work
together to solve the problems of building a state-of-the-art race car, with each
member using their individual skills and knowledge, is a total delight. Those
scenes reminded me of other film about people working together to solve a
problem, The Martian, also starring Matt Damon, and also a Best Picture
nominee. So, yes, in a film where the title flat out states conflict and rivalry,
the best scenes are of people working together.
Director James Mangold is not a household name, even among
cinephiles, but he turns out solid work more often than not. When directing Walk
the Line he gave the concert scenes a distinct look by putting the camera
backstage and even onstage with the performers instead of just placing it with
the audience. He uses the same approach with Ford v Ferrari’s racing
scenes. There some shots of the cars zooming by the stands but there are also
shots behind and in front of the cars on the track, inside the car with the
Miles, POV shots of the racers, or shots where the camera has been attached the door of one of the speeding cars. It is all cut together to thrilling results (editor Andrew Buckland received
an Oscar nomination for his work). Ford v Ferrari also picked up Oscar
nominations in both Sound Mixing and Sound Editing. Those aren’t just throw
away nominations. The sound of the roaring engines, zooming cars, and, yes,
explosions, are a major part of the immersive experience of the racing scenes.
I have never had any interest in car racing of any kind, but the grueling climatic
race at 24 Hours at Le Mans, where drivers race in four-hour shifts day and night
no matter the weather conditions, had me completely enthralled. That’s good
filmmaking. I can see Ford v Ferrari being dismissed as a “Dad
Movie”—the kind of movie an adult child would watch with their dad over the
holidays. If that is how you happen to see this picture, you and your dad are
in luck.
Nominees: Peter Chernin, Jenno Topping, James Mangold, producers
Director: James Mangold
Screenplay: Jez Butterworth & John-Henry Butterworth and
Jason Keller
Cast: Matt Damon, Christian Bale
Production Companies:
Distributor: 20th Century Fox
Release Date: Chernin Entertainment, TSG Entertainment,
Turnpike Films
Total Nominations: 4, including Best Picture
Other Nominations: Editing- Andrew Buckland, Michael
McCusker; Sound Mixing-Paul Massey, David Giammarco, Steven Morrow; Sound
Editing-Donald Sylvester
No comments:
Post a Comment