Ford V. Ferfari (2019)

I am not a huge fan of sports or related film, where there are extended scenes on the games or races. You know that the good guys will win…or if they are aiming for the awards, lose. Some films are metaphors of some greater philosophies, like the assurance that you are never small and can take on the Goliath.

Or that, it's okay to lose, its the effort and ambition that matters. Or the underdogs…they will come out as big dogs at the end, so on and so forth.

This film fits in either any of those categories or none if you are interested in taking on an alternative platform. I clearly see this film as the filmmakers throwing a bag filled with faeces right at the studios and big producers.

Because, it is what it is…moneyman, and power guardians harassing the talents to dance to their tune, as we see the legendary Ford (the second, the opposite fraction stresses that) harassing Matt Damon’s designer Carrol Shelby to get Christian Bale hotshot driver, Ken Miles, pushed around according to their whims and fancies…with reasons of course…and we are talking about huge business rivalry here where a racing circuit determines sales of automobiles.

The first half of the films moves slowly…too slowly, the setting up really takes time, but thanks to the performance by the two leads, we do not get overly bored. Then, the racings happen and yes, the film shifts gear if I may be allowed to say so.

The race scenes are tame…after watching the likes of Bullit, French Connection and Ronin, where chase matters, here the race bores me to sleep. I almost slept off during some of the supposed intense scenes. I haven’t watched any of the Fast and The Furious flicks, which I believe would have made me Rip Van Winkle.

But what matters are the performances. The leads are impressive, of course, and they should…they have nominations and awards between them. But I absolutely adored Catriona Balfe, who plays Shelby’s wife. She tries to be understanding, while also confrontative where it's necessary.

And I loved that one scene, where she just plays a bored spectator of brawling involving her husband and Miles. It was the funniest scene in the movie where we learn more about the relationship between these characters.

There are many other standoff scenes involving the money men and the talent, but they quickly move on to more mundane scenes. Much of it could have been cropped to make the film crisper. In his excellent review  James Berardinelli notes, “We have reached a point in film evolution where the “Extended DVD Director’s Cut” has become the theatrical release”.

This film is clearly released during the award season and is naturally going to get some recognition, notably for the performances of its two leads, and hopefully one for the gal also. The cinematography will also be getting some attention, especially those with short memories.

But what disturbed me more was the individual talent vs team player issue. At some point, we are applauding and urging Bale’s character on, and in another moment we are conflicted as he was not allowed to shine to let the team win, because, well…at the end of the day, its all about selling the goddam cars, isn’t it?

As such, I didn’t have much too strong feeling about this film. It had its moments, but it also misses something that the good performances could not patch up.

And so, here’s another based on true story film that tries too hard to be dramatic, but end up offering good performances on screen and yet, still leaving audience like me unimpressed. Let us see what happens when they start the self-congratulating award ceremonies…