'Ford v Ferrari' film review: V-8 powered American exceptionalism

Perhaps the best pair of performances in a 2019 film and breathtaking race sequences ... brilliantly obscuring the fact that "Ford v Ferrari" (opening in theaters Nov. 15) is anemic in plot and conflict.

In short: The Ford Motor Company enlists car designer Carroll Shelby (Matt Damon) and volatile driver Ken Miles (Christian Bale) to build a revolutionary race car that can challenge and defeat Ferrari at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1966. Tracy Letts, Caitriona Balfe and Noah Jupe also star.

Bale and Damon deliver a pair of dynamite, complementary and exciting performances -- easily one of the very best acting duos of 2019. Damon exudes charm, charisma and an underlying loss of nerve as the former driver turned race car builder Shelby. Bale once again affirms his place among today's greatest actors as an explosive, unheralded driver turned gearhead Miles in search of "the perfect lap." Bale overlaps passionate racer and fiery loner who doesn't suffer fools. "Ford" excels when the film allows their personalities to take the wheel.

The title of the film is a bit of a misnomer. Yes, the overall goal for Shelby and Miles is to defeat Ferrari at Le Mans - but for all the friction between Ford executives and Shelby's team, the film should have been titled "Shelby v Ford." The bulk of the film's conflict is invested in Ford suits resisting the radical ideas of Shelby and the brash persona of Miles. And unfortunately, the obstacles Ford throws at Shelby and company range from petty to very petty.

Unfortunately, Josh Lucas gets saddled with the thankless job of depicting Ford executive Leo Beebe - a man, who for the lamest reason ever, is disdainful of Shelby's team and has made it his life mission to ruin Ken Miles. And Beebe's job title at Ford is apparently Vice President of Trying to Undermine Carroll Shelby at Every Turn.

Now ideally the film would be completely rooted in the inherent mechanical and cultural challenges in dethroning Ferrari at Le Mans. "Ford" flirts with those moments, but the bulk of the film is Beebe just screwing with Shelby and Miles. Lee Iacocca (Jon Bernthal) pops up for the briefest of screentimes just to introduce the tantalizing concept of overhauling Ford's identity as a company. And the film just leaves that idea there, never fully exploring how Shelby's team revolutionized the American automotive industry -- an idea the film itself introduces, then abandons ... in favor of Beebe's personal vendetta against Shelby's team.

The great disappointment of "Ford v Ferrari" is its fundamental belief in American exceptionalism - without ever exploring how or why Americans are exceptional. "Ford" can be boiled down to: once an American car company actually tried to win Le Mans, it did win. Okay, good enough idea, but this movie only peripherally explores that idea. Instead, "Ford" is just a pissing match between a thin-skinned Beebe and Shelby's team. Virtually every obstacle in Shelby's way is put there by Beebe - and again, the fact that Beebe's campaign against Shelby's team is shallow does not speak to the actually impressive technological hurdles Shelby's team overcame.

Those are just the thematic missteps and missed opportunities. From a character standpoint, "Ford" never really gives Shelby a reason or purpose for beating Ferrari ... except perhaps that it's a challenge funded by Ford's resources. There's a thin subplot involving personal and financial difficulties that Miles faces -- but those are just jettisoned almost as quickly as they're introduced and never spoken of again. It's clear Miles is a pure race car driver compelled by his love for driving - but "Ford" spends way too much time establishing that he's kind of a dick to work with.

Director James Mangold (“Logan”) exquisitely recreates the legendary ‘60s era races, with the sequences feeling tangible, specific but not distractingly dated. It’s no small feat to capture the power and danger of high performance racing, but Mangold puts the audience in the driver’s seat better than any film since “Rush.”

Final verdict: "Ford v Ferrari" is an exhilarating bit of automotive lore rooted in two fantastic performances, but not without hitting its share of narrative potholes.

Score: 3/5

"Ford v Ferrari" opens in theaters nationwide in IMAX on Nov. 15. This docudrama has a running time of 152 minutes and is rated PG-13 for some language and peril.