Ford v. Ferrari is James Marigold’s latest film. With a total of four Oscar nominations, it’s the one with least Academy Award acclaim. The nominations it received were Best Picture, Best Sound Mixing, Best Film Editing, and Best Sound Editing.
A determined team of American engineers and designers is led by two men: automotive visionary Carroll Shelby and his British driver, Ken Miles. They’re dispatched by Henry Ford II and Lee Iacocca with a mission: to build the Ford GT40. This new racing car will have the potential to finally defeat the perennially dominant Ferrari racing team at the French 1966 24 Hours of Le Mans race.
It was received well by critics and audiences alike for being a good mixture of action and storytelling. I like to refer to this movie as “Fast and the Furious for tired dads” (without Vin Diesel and all the kitschy drama). I consider this to be a movie that was made specifically for the Oscars. It’s just attractive to the Academy: it’s a true story about an important event in history. While it’s not the best movie ever, I found it to be entertaining and well shot. It’s definitely not something I would’ve seen on my own. I wasn’t interested in the story, but I’m glad I did because I ended up liking it in terms of the technical aspects and the performances.
Matt Damon and Christian Bale were incredible in their respective roles, but when do they perform badly in movies? Never. Sadly, neither of them was recognized in the acting categories, which is a shame. It’s not the strongest movie out of all the nominees. It surprised me when it made the cut, because it had been nominated at the Golden Globes, but hadn’t won anything. I don’t think it will end up winning Best Picture, but it could still have a chance in the technical categories. Overall it’s a well made entertaining film with great performances that you should definitely check out if you can.
Now, watch the trailer, watch the film and make your own opinion!