Matt Damon, Christian Bale and the film ‘Ford v Ferrari’

It was avid car aficionado in the form of Lynn‘s West Virginia uncle who turned me on to the biopic film about the 1966 automobile race 24 Hours of Le Mans. This particular film, and the facts underpinning it, tells the story about the stranglehold that the Ferrari brand had on the race at the time as well as the battle Ford had in becoming relevant there for a four year stretch beginning in 1966. The film that addresses this contest is Ford v Ferrari (2019).

(From left, Matt Damon as Carroll Shelby and Tracy Letts as Henry Ford II in the film Ford v Ferrari).

The crux of the film starts around the time that the Ford Mustang as a vehicle was introduced, with Ford owner Henry Ford II (as played by Tracy Letts) making an overture to Ferrari owner Enzo Ferrari (as played by Remo Girone) to acquire the motor company owned by Ferrari, and being soundly rebuffed in a move to increase the sales price to Fiat. This led to a courting by Ford of Carroll Shelby (as played by Matt Damon) and Ken Miles (as played by Christian Bale).

(From left, Stefania Spampinato as Enzo Ferrari‘s English Translator and Remo Girone as Enzo Ferrari in the film Ford v Ferrari).

The means of being rebuffed by Enzo Ferrari opened, or perhaps revealed, an emotional rivalry between he and Henry Ford II that revealed some interesting dynamics in the way Ford was operated as a company. Lee Iacocca, as portrayed by Jon Bernthal, brought Carroll Shelby into the Ford company when Henry Ford II demanded engineers and money into the company to have the wherewithal to compete with Ferrari at Le Mans.

(From left, Jon Bernthal as Lee Iacocca and Corrado Invernizzi as Franco Gozzi in the film Ford v Ferrari).

The compelling notion of what worked in the movie Ford V Ferrari was first the racing story with the fortunes of two automobile companies at the center of it. Also there were the personalities within Ford, with Shelby and Miles as clearly outsiders to the corporate culture of the larger company. Iacocca was a bit of a middleman between that culture and the work getting done by Shelby and Miles.

(Josh Lucas as Leo Beebe in the film Ford v Ferrari).

Josh Lucas as Leo Beebe was the face of that corporate culture, and in many ways vilified for his role in how the 24 Hours of Le Mans came to a resolution in 1966. There was natural tension in his trusted role in Ford and the natural conflict that arose in holding the Shelby / Miles team to an account that also reflected on the public face of what Ford wished to project. Said another way, a story of Ford v Ferrari was the means for how mean with well-defined senses of self worth worked together. This came into play as well between Shelby and Miles, the both of them and Beebe, and the full lot of them and Henry Ford II with Iacocca in the middle. Ken Miles and his wife, Mollie Miles as portrayed by Caitriona Balfe, had their own form of intrigue as shown in Ford v Ferrari.

(From left, Caitriona Balfe as Mollie Miles and Christian Bale as Ken Miles in the film Ford v Ferrari).

I found the movie Ford v Ferrari both entertaining and interesting. There’s history in the telling, despite some clear fictionalized dramatization included for the sake of the telling. The fiction offered something that worked for me in this case, though there are some muscle car folks that might not agree. I rate Ford v Ferrari at 3.75-stars on a scale of one-to-five.

Matt – Wednesday, July 15, 2020

Freedom of the Press and Feminism in 2017’s movie The Post

The Steven Spielberg-directed movie The Post (2017) is showing in a theater near you. Starring for the first time with Spielberg is actress Meryl Streep as well as co-star Tom Hanks, who works with the visionary director of Jaws (1975) for the fourth time.

(Meryl Streep)

The film tells the story of a cover-up of the background for the involvement of the United States in what is known in America as the Vietnam War. In overcoming a cover-up of the background for being in that war, two leading newspapers battle over the political intrigue of U.S. Presidents Dwight D. Eisenhower, John F. Kennedy, Lyndon B. Johnson, and Richard Nixon in publishing material that we see is documented from the opening scenes of the movie.

As indicated in the current Biography listing for Steven Spielberg for the Biography (1987- ) series and its related website:

“The movie centers on the actions of The Washington Post publisher (Streep) and editor (Hanks) as they attempt to go public with the Pentagon Papers, a trove of government secrets, over the objections of President Richard Nixon‘s administration.”

Streep plays Katherine (Kay) Graham, who takes over publishing responsibilities for The Washington Post after the death’s of her father and former publisher Eugene Meyer and then her publisher husband Phil Graham. Much of the anxiety over gender roles for her generation were central in the story of The Post by design.

(Tom Hanks)

That the movie tackled the cover-up that seemingly ends under Richard Nixon’s presidency is due to Kay Graham‘s bravery in choosing to publish the editorial work of Ben Bradlee (played by Hanks) as well as the reporting work of Ben Bagdikian (played by Bob Odenkirk). It was Bagdikian that gets the classified Pentagon Papers after the Nixon Administration successfully sued The New York Times to stop publishing on this subject.

(Bob Odenkirk)

The subject of a press free from an over-stepping government concern is topical from a U.S. and world political history. The subject of fake news was a point-of-contention in the 2016 U.S. Presidential Election. Tension between the current administration and the press remain strong, and was a decisive trope raised within The Post. I again stress that the push and pull between the press and the presidents feels topical. That the figure of a strong female example (Streep as Kay Graham) was explored also bears repeating as relevant in today’s political and social American landscape. The presented example was thoughtfully raised.

I was pleased with the movie, and my feeling is that the movie will likely be recognized in the Academy Awards nomination season. This movie definitely examines political subjects, though I find the end product less overtly personal or politically intimate than Spielberg works such as Munich (2005), Saving Private Ryan (1998), or Schindler’s List (1993) felt.

(Steven Spielberg)

That there is a thing known as The Pentagon Papers as well as a presence for The Washington Post today, in a sense, tells you something that you should know about how the movie works out. There is a disclosed ruling about whether publishing The Pentagon Papers was legal. There is an outcome for whether Kay Graham and the newspaper survived and prospered under Graham family control. Overall, I found this movie pleasing while close to satisfying without rising to the level of must-see cinema.

Matt – Monday, January 15, 2018.