Ford v Ferrari

There are so many movies that my Dad and I want to see so we decided on a double feature last night and it was epic!  We began with Ford v Ferrari and we both absolutely loved it!  When Enzo Ferrari (Remo Girone) humiliates Henry Ford II (Tracy Letts) by refusing an offer to purchase his bankrupt company, Ford is determined to build a car that will defeat Ferrari at the 24 Hours of Le Mans.  Lee Iacocca (Jon Bernthal), Vice President of Ford Motor Company, enlists the help of Carroll Shelby (Matt Damon), who won the Le Mans in 1959 but has since retired from racing because of a heart condition and now designs cars.  Shelby asks Ken Miles (Christian Bale), a hot-tempered British race car driver, to help him.  They test the Ford GT40 and Miles suggests many modifications to get it ready for the 1964 Le Mans but Leo Beebe (Josh Lucas), Executive Vice President of Ford Motor Company, doesn't think that Miles represents the ideals of the company and demands that another driver race it.  After they lose Ford promises Shelby total control as they attempt the race again but, once again, Beebe interferes to oust Miles.  Shelby bets his entire company on Miles to win the 24 Hours of Daytona which convinces Ford to let him race at Le Mans.  This leads to a thrilling 1966 Le Mans race in which Miles pushes the car past 7,000 RPMs for a stunning conclusion.  This movie is fantastic!  It has a compelling true story about two outsiders who overcome their own personal demons and corporate interference to do something that had never been done before.  It makes you want to stand up and cheer even if you are not a fan of racing!  Both Damon and Bale give brilliant performances that are generating a lot of Oscar buzz.  The two of them have great chemistry as they play off each other and I especially enjoyed their knock-down brawl!  Bale, especially, is incredible and I loved it when he talked to the car as if it was a woman.  Finally, the racing sequences are an adrenaline-fueled rush with squealing tires, shifting gears, and fiery crashes.  We saw it in IMAX and these sequences were thrilling, to say the least.  I cannot recommend this movie enough (see it in IMAX).

Note:  At one point my dream car was a Dodge Daytona Shelby.  I thought Shelby was just the name of the car until my friend Michael explained to me that Carroll Shelby designed it!