‘Le Mans 66’, which you may have seen advertised as ‘Ford vs. Ferrari’ for the purpose of American customers, arrived in the UK cinemas this week. The director, James Mangold, comes off the back of his success dipping into the ever-prevalent superhero genre with ‘The Wolverine’ and ‘Logan’. It is refreshing to see a production house put faith into an original script, in an era where sequels, franchises and reboots take up an increasing portion of releases due to their reliable financial returns.
‘Le Mans 66’ tells the true story of Carol Shelby (Matt Damon) and Ken Miles (Christian Bale), two racers and car engineers hired by Ford with one goal in mind. This is to beat Ferrari and win the Le Mans 24 hour: a race that tests both man and machine to their endurable limit. Carol Shelby is the only American driver at the time to have ever won the race but is forced into early retirement due to health concerns.
Carol passionately believes that his British friend and colleague, Ken Miles, is the talent that will win them the race. However, Ken is a wild card whose unrelenting passion for the sport betrays a stubbornness and inability to play nice. We follow Carol and Ken’s journey towards their goal, tackling corporate politics, engineering limitations and their own egos along the way.
The film has its flaws, but on the whole delivers an enjoyable ride for any cinema-goer, whether you are a motorsports fan or not (I am in the latter).
Central to the entertainment is the race scenes themselves, which are directed masterfully. There is no abundance of quick cuts of tires screeching and gears switching, but rather long wide shots that make it easy to understand what is unfolding. The scenes make intelligent use of sound to build palpable tension by drumming every groan of the car being pushed to its breaking point through the cinema.
Another success of the film is the chemistry of the central characters. Matt Damon and Christian Bale play off each other well; their odd-ball friendship is believable and worth rooting for. This is underpinned by reliable performances by the pair, although Bale’s portrayal is hampered by an accent that ranges from cockney, to midlands all the way to Geordie and back within 2 hours.
The arguably weaker acting comes from Ken Miles’ family, and this mitigates the investment I had in their part of the tale to the point where they could have been cut out and I wouldn’t have bat an eye.
In fact, the wider supporting cast did prove a pain point for me in general. The cartoonish nature of the supporting characters contributed to a playfulness that intertwined well with the film’s tone at times. At other times it felt like I was watching a posse of walking stereotypes.
Another element I had mixed feelings about was the dialogue, which on the whole delivered a steady flow of humour and intrigue. However, there was a strong tendency to over-explain to the audience. I know close to nothing about motorsports and even I don’t need a little boy telling me that you need to overtake the leading car to win a race. There were also philosophical soliloquys about racing that felt forced, although I accept that they may land better with petrol-heads.
Overall, ‘Le Mans 66’ is far more fun and playful than the trailers had me hoping for and definitely will not disappoint if you are looking for an evening of solid entertainment. However, uneven dialogue and supporting characters scuppers its chances of it living long in the memory.
Hughes Reviews 