I lucked out today and grabbed a seat for the first showing which happened to be in the IMAX theater. Perfect venue!
While I am not a rabid or knowledgeable racing fan I actually attended the “24 Hours of Le Mans” in the late 90’s while working in France. A work colleague who is a huge race fan and race car driver came over for a visit and we both drove out to the race.
This film is beautifully cast with Matt Damon as the legendary Carroll Shelby, Christian Bale as the high strung super driver Ken Miles, Tracy Letts, the brilliant character actor as Henry Ford II, and the gorgeous Caltriona Balfe as Miles’s wife (if you are an “Outlander” fan she is the star time traveler).
The absolute star of this film is Christian Bale. He totally captures the fiery and daring Ken Miles who wins, wins and wins some more, all the while irritating more than a few people. I first saw Bale way back in 1987 when he starred in Spielberg’s splendid “Empire of the Sun” at the age of thirteen. He was amazing, and his performance got the attention of many . He was clearly a star in the making. Thirty plus years later he is still delivering stellar performances.
Matt Damon is solid as the former race car driver and race car developer who is not intimidated by much. He was born to do this and knows it, and Damon delivers that on screen.
The story revolves around Henry Ford II’s burning ego driven desire to beat Ferrari at Le Mans. The scene where Shelby takes Ford for a little spin in the GT 40 is one for the ages.
Personalities get involved in lots of decisions in business and the friction and give and take between Ford execs and the Shelby team is ongoing.
The film deftly wends it’s way to the climax of the 1966 Le Mans race. Both Ferrari and Ford have multiple entries with two drivers per race car. The start itself at Le Mans is exciting with drivers sprinting to jump into their machines and zoom out onto the track amidst the noise and mayhem. The blast of the engines, the deafening sounds as gears are shifted and cars zig and zag, coupled with the race driver view of the serpentine track make for an exhilarating experience. Just like the Postal Service motto, “neither rain nor snow…..” will keep these teams off the track for 24 grueling hours.
Director James Mangold should be proud of this effort. It touches all of the senses and satisfies throughout a pretty long film. He is no stranger to terrific films having directed “Girl Interrupted” and “Walk the Line” among others.
The end of the race was then and will continue to be the subject of some controversy. I researched it a bit and I still don’t know what really happened and who made the decisions and why. No spoiler here!
Race fan or not, get out to see this film. It’s a beauty!
