I took this long to get to this Academy Best Picture nominee because, apart from the DVD wait time, it sounded predictable. Another auto race flick, and judging from respective reputations, I could guess who won by virtue of underdog status. Still, it is nonfiction, however loaded with anachronisms and other errors, and has two highly watchable leads.
In the 1960s, Henry Ford II (Tracy Letts) is furious that his company has become something of a laughingstock. Who should answer his demand for a good idea but Lee Iacocca (Jon Bernthal), who taps former champion racer turned auto company founder Carroll Shelby (Matt Damon) to design a car that might break Enzo Ferrari's (Remo Girone) winning streak at the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Shelby makes controversial, job-threatening decisions in this effort, not least in insisting that the main tester and racer be broke mechanic Ken Miles (Christian Bale, in one of the few times I've heard him act with a British accent), who is excellent on both counts but hard to work with.
By "hard to work with," I don't mean just uncooperative; he has a short temper. Then again, so do Shelby, Ford, and Ferrari among others. That's why the movie has so much swearing that I wonder how it got away with a PG-13. Perhaps just by not reaching the same level as other entries for the year?
The other thing about Miles and Shelby that bothers their bosses is a lack of caution. In their eagerness to make Ferrari eat dust, they push the limits. And in most stories where protagonists take big risks again and again, they eventually fail hard.
I admit that this, plus the extra difficulty of a 24-hour race, leads to more excitement than I usually get from the sport. So does some of the camerawork, which seems to have been difficult to pull off. Adding to the sense of importance is Miles's son (Noah Jupe), who stands to be quite proud and/or heartbroken.
Lest you think that the racing scenes are the only parts worth watching, I took a passing interest in the shop talk. I hadn't realized quite how many features there were to consider in a race car. You can bet it's only gotten more complicated in the last 50+ years. There's also the mild drama of corporate conflict. For the Ford Motor Company, it's not just about winning the race; it's about looking as good as possible in the process, and like in almost all other contexts in life, they can't both look and be their best at the same time. Unfortunately, these factors have trouble justifying a 152-minute runtime.
Director James Mangold continues to play toward an audience with more testosterone than I have. The result is pretty good for what it is, but I don't put it in the upper half of the year's Oscar nominees.
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