Le Mans ‘66 - 2019
Rating - 12
Runtime - 152 mins
Director - James Mangold
Written by - Jez Butterworth, John Henry Butterworth and Jason Keller
Starring - Matt Damon, Christian Bale, Caitríona Balfe, Jon Bernthal
Le Mans ‘66 (entitled Ford v Ferrari in some countries) is a 2019 action sports drama, directed by American filmmaker James Mangold. Based on the true events - it stars Matt Damon as Carroll Shelby; a former racing driver turned innovative automotive designer, who won the Le Mans race in 1959 as a driver and went on to design the AC Cobra and the Mustang for the Ford Company with his own company, Shelby-American. Damon co-stars with Christian Bale, who plays racing driver and engineer Ken Miles. Originally from the West Midlands, Miles moved to America in 1952 after serving in WW2. He constructed his vehicles and started working for Shelby-American in the early 60s.
The main focus of the film is the buildup to the 24 hours in Le Mans race in 1966, before which Shelby, Miles and their team have to construct a winning car to beat Ford’s rivals at Ferrari. As well as this, Shelby and Ford’s vice president Lee Iacocca (Jon Bernthal) fight to have Ken Miles as the driver of their creation at the race, much to the dismay of Ford executive Leo Beebe (Josh Lucas). The emotional weight of the movie centres around Ken Miles and his relationship with his wife, Mollie (Caitríona Balfe) and his son, Peter (Noah Jupe).
Ken Miles died two months after 1966’s Le Mans race in an explosion while testing the Ford J-Car for the following year’s Le Mans and Sebring races. The finalised version of the car was used by Ford in both of these races in 1967 and won each. Ken Miles is the unexpected hero of the story. At first, he seems arrogant and difficult to work with - but when we get to know the character and his situation, we feel more empathetic towards him. He was the key to Ford’s success in 1966’s Le Mans race, as they were extremely likely to lose to their rivals at Ferrari if Carroll Shelby hadn’t fought to keep him in their team.
The film was a critical and commercial success, grossing $225 million worldwide. Nominated for 4 Oscars including Best Picture, it won Best Film Editing and was the last film to win Best Sound Editing before it was merged with Best Sound Mixing and renamed Best Sound.
This was definitely one of 2019’s best movies. The direction feels authentic to the period and therefore it feels more immersive. The film stays energetic and fast-paced throughout, keeping the audience excited and invested. Director James Mangold has directed many other movies including Girl Interrupted, Walk The Line, Logan, and 3:10 to Yuma - which he also collaborated on with Christian Bale. The soundtrack fits well with the movie's era and there is a limited amount of CGI used on screen, which is refreshing to see in a modern movie as many nowadays highly rely on it.
Christian Bale and Matt Damon have great on-screen chemistry, a major part of what makes this film such a success and a definite sign that they should collaborate again. Bale played Ken Miles excellently in the standout role of the film. The supporting cast is superb, especially Catríona Balfe and Noah Jupe.
The script is well written, staying accurate and faithful to the actual events. The story is told in a simple but effective way. It doesn't try to dumb it down for audiences like a lot of big movies do nowadays. A bonus is you don’t need to know anything about racing or the real-life events involved to understand or enjoy the film. Le Mans ‘66 is a wonderful cinematic experience, keeping you on the edge of your seat with excitement.
Score - 9/10
Le Mans ‘66 is available to stream on Disney+.
Comments
Post a Comment