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Ford v Ferrari
🕑 Added 2020-10-09 13:01:00 +0000 UTCI originally wrote this entry just after starting the Patreon revisions. I wasn't sure about discussing things unrelated to games, but I already recommend movies, comics, books, and albums, and I've talked about much more personal things here since. So, here's one of my earliest entries from the beginning of this year.
We're all irrational on some level.
Whenever there's a new Motorosport's film being released in theaters, I feel an obligation to see it. There's no logic behind this. I'm hardly a real life gearhead, and my ticket isn't going to make a dent at the film's box office. Loving Motorsport though, loving the drama, excitement, and racers mad enough to get risk their lives behind a wheel; curiosity gets the best of me. I go to see if someone's figured out how to make cars driving by cameras more thrilling, or if there's some new angle explored through a driver's life.
Ford v Ferrari didn't do that for me.
Christian Bale steals the show as the charismatic lead, Ken Miles. Matt Damon plays a surprisingly convincing Carol Shelby. James Mangold intelligently helms the picture. Even nerds are likely to find satisfaction with lots of little nods and touches such as Enzo Ferrari's purple pen, the GT40's evolution, and the iconic 1966 Le Mans conclusion.
That's all good.
So why did I walk out of the theater with little more than "Meh?"
Well, in the famous words of Aristotle...
It's got no balls.
It's too wholesome.
Previously I've recommended a Steve McQueen classic simply titled "Le Mans." In that film, the music scores not simply what's witnessed on screen, but also the foreboding pressure of a 24 Hour Race in the world's fastest vehicles. In this film, the music only exists to serve what's happening. When the car's building up to a gear change, a riser's heard. When a character's sad, the orchestra plays a gentle note. When the race is going well, the same orchestra soars.
When something goes wrong, it's always the fault of one Ford executive.
When something goes right, it's always because of our heroes.
"Hollywood" has been an overused term for some time, but cliches rarely spawn from thin air, and this, while an enjoyable film with great performances, has little bite. In the cars, in the shots, in the score, in everything.
The film however did clarify for me why 2013's Rush continues to resonate. It too is not a perfect movie but what Ron Howard's film may lack in on-track action, it more than makes up for characters who have that edge. Nicki Lauda carries a similar no nonsense, no filter attitude to Ken Miles, but unlike FvF, Nicki isn't in the right 95% of the time. Rush's two leads often make you think "Christ, what an asshole."
But at the end of the journey, you've seen two perspectives at war who come out at the other side stronger for having pit them against each other. It too is a classic story, but one that doesn't feel Hollywood, it feels real.
Granted, because it was, but so too was Ford v Ferrari.
There's absolutely a place for a wholesome feel good movie, even in a racing film, but I just don't believe the 1960's, when drivers were dying by the week, and circuits had the safety of a saw blade, is it.
