If you wanted a movie that perfectly summed up the conceited nature of white American thought, here it is. James Mangold (who has done so, so much better than this) tells the inspiring story of a powerful corporation beating the smaller competition with unlimited money and resources, all as an advertising campaign for their brand so they could boost sales. I don’t know how anyone thought this car crash was a good idea. Is this what the future will be? In a world where billionaires have their brainless sycophants on Twitter and America was idiotic enough to declare corporations “citizens”, has the nightmarish cyberpunk future where we all bow to the wondrous achievements of the rich and powerful become the new vogue?
The sad thing is that I’ve already summed up the movie. That whole corporate plot isn’t some subplot, it’s the main plot, because Americans are so in love with themselves that of course they’d side with the powerful Ford over Ferrari. Ford are keen to boost sales and think that sports cars are the way to go, so they focus first on purchasing the small, and at that time bankrupt, Italian company. When that fails, they decide to compete with them. They get the best men on the job, have the best tools and resources, have unlimited manpower (and bodies to test-drive) and lo-and-behold, they win the 24 Hours of Le Mans. An event Americans apparently know so little about that they had to call the film Ford Vs Ferrari in the states.
Matt Damon, Carroll Shelby, is utter slime in this film. He plays the bootlicking good ol’ boy lapdog of the Ford executives, always breathing a heavy sigh as he follows their orders, telling Christian Bale’s character exactly what they want without fail. They try to present him as a relatable middle man, a guy trapped between the hot head driver Bale and the asshole suits, but really he’s just a prick with an excuse.
Christian Bale’s character Ken Miles is the only redeeming part in this film, and even then he has a terrible accent that fluctuates between Brummie, Irish and Australian. A hot-head Brit resentful of corporate soullessness, it’s enjoyable seeing a man with human feelings about things in contrast to consumerism. The film is about this conflict, but it never goes the full hog that older films would have in depicting the corporate suits as villains. They even have Henry Ford II wax lyrical about how his company helped in the war effort! Ford! The company that sold cars to the Nazis and collaborated with them during the war! What is this utter nonsense movie even trying to say?!
There seems to have been an attempt by the filmmakers to recreate a Chariots of Fire narrative, with Shelby and Miles set up as equivalents to Harold Abrahams and Eric Liddell. The difference is while Miles drove for the love of driving and Shelby just did what his bosses told him, Miles still always capitulates to the corporation’s demands. Hardly as powerful as a man running for the glory of God and the other against prejudice. That and Chariots Of Fire had an iconic score by Vangelis that will never be forgotten, whereas this whole movie was forgettable trash that will either be forgotten by Oscar Season or otherwise showered with Oscars because it’s an American film about things American Boomers like. God, what a world we live in, “Ford Vs Ferrari” give me strength…
Brooking The Vault 