<Review by: Sailesh Ghelani>

Directed by James Mangold. Starring Christian Bale, Matt Damon, Jon Bernthal, Caitriona Balfe, Josh Lucas, Noah Jupe, Tracy Letts, Remo Girone, Jack McMullen

Running time: 2 hours 30 mins

This isn’t a competitive racing battle between Ford and Ferrari, but rather a battle within Ford and some of its key members/drivers to be the best and salvage an ‘ugly little factory that makes ugly little cars’. 

One of the best films of the year, Ford v Ferrari pulls out all the pitstops to get your adrenalin rushing on the race track and off it. Simply brilliant acting, story, script and cinematography combine to make it a riveting movie, the kind you can’t take your eyes off to look at your watch and you know everyone in the audience is silently waiting for what’s going to happen next.

Carroll Shelby (Matt Damon), a retired race car champion who builds and sells beasts, is recruited by the ailing Ford Motor Company to make their cars relevant by building a Ford car that will race in the Le Mans 24-hour racing championship against the undefeated Ferrari team lead by their creator Enzo Ferrari (Remo Girone). Shelby wants his old buddy Ken Miles (Christian Bale) to take on the onerous task as he knows that the maturity and passion Miles brings to the track is unsurpassed by any young, well-groomed driver that would fit the ‘image’ of Ford better.

But Ferrari doesn’t turn out to be the main competitor in the film; it’s actually the people at Ford who make life difficult for Shelby and Miles. Even Miles doesn’t make life easy for himself, but that’s just his eccentric nature, which is part of the charm of this film. There’s a lovely buoyancy to the movie, it never really gets you down. There’s a happiness and a positivity that it radiates, much of it due to Bale’s scintillating performance. It’s a human story, not one about machines racing each other.

The direction, CGI and cinematography are beautiful; at times you feel like you’re right there on the race track with them, taking those esses and pushing for the perfect lap.

Miles’s relationships with his wife Mollie (Caitriona Balfe), his son Peter (Noah Jupe) and best friend Shelby (Matt Damon) form an integral part of the film, showing us more about the type of man he was and the type of people that he had supporting him.

Ford v Ferrari has the drama, the emotion, the inspiration, the warmth and wonder that not only make it an award-worthy movie but also make it a film that stands well above most other sports movies or any other movies we’ve seen this year.