There’s no business like show business. A famous phrase that is oft repeated with the last word often cited for emphasis. Show business. The struggle for creatives to overcome business interests and pressures in favor of their visions has been never-ending. Artists want complete freedom to tell their story, sing their songs, while the executives who fund them want as close to a guaranteed return on investment as possible. So who’s correct? Which side should be deferred to? How stifling is it attempt to make something while remaining potentially profitable? Ford v Ferrari takes a look at this balancing act through the story of former race car drive and automotive designer Carroll Shelby (Matt Damon) and his odyssey in designer the first high-end race car for Ford Motor Company at the behest of marketing executive Lee Iacocca (Jon Bernthal) and Henry Ford II (Tracey Letts) himself following their disastrous bid to invest in racing impresario Enzo Ferrari’s (Remo Girone) company. Shelby enlists the craftsmanship and driving skill of British race car driver Ken Miles (Christian Bale) to help build the vehicle but before the two can go onto glory at the famed 24 hour race of Le Mans in France, they must battle consistent corporate interference.
While the title card for this film reads Ford v Ferrari, the conflict that the plot brings to mind is not one between automobile legends, but the eternal battle between creatives and the businesspersons that they work with to distribute their ideas and creations to the world. Throughout the film we see Shelby struggle with the suits at Ford Motor Company, a struggle embodied by the tumultuous relationship between Shelby and Leo Beebe (Josh Lucas). Shelby wishes to have his best driver, Ken, drive the high-end vehicle he helped to build while Ford executives consistently interfered and overruled Shelby’s efforts in an attempt to cultivate the corporation’s preferred image. In a society currently dealing with the increased influence of corporations in every corner, the issue of creative freedom versus content cultivated in corporate boardrooms is moving to the forefront even more than it traditionally has. In cinema, debates over corporate power are a hot topic at the moment, as are issues of filmmakers being stifled creatively by executives in search of greater popularity and revenues as we’ve seen with campaigns such as #ReleaseTheSnyderCut. Shelby’s experience with Ford in this film is indicative of the eternal struggles creatives have had in finding the medium between creativity and business interests, always at odds with their imagination and accounting bottom lines.
In the midst of a cultural shift in the western world that finds society rethinking and attempting to redefine masculinity, Ford v Ferrari’s depiction of the behaviors and attitudes of men from a bygone era sticks out like an extended exhaust hanger. Yes, the film is full of adrenaline pumping car races, abrasive and confrontational conversations and meetings between white men of various means of privilege and success, but what makes its portrayal of masculinity notable is not any toxicity, but how it presents rough around the edges conduct and frank friendships as still having some beneficial and healthy aspects that are worthwhile and not necessarily problematic. The straightforward way in which Shelby and Ken interact with one another, speak to one another, and even fight when the situation calls for it, but still clearly love and care for each other feels like a case that perhaps traditional forms of masculinity can fit into our more sensitive times and avoid what younger generations stereotype as inherently destructive and violent tendencies. The cold war between Henry Ford II and Enzo Ferrari can come off as a bit of a pissing contest between two hard-headed titans of industry, but their battle for automotive supremacy could also be attributed to mere corporate machinations inherent in high stakes capitalism rather than their testosterone. The camaraderie between the team at Shelby American, Inc., the relationship between Ken Miles and his son Peter (Noah Jupe), and the underlying spirit of competition and adventure all display how masculinity can maintain its rough exterior but maintain a softness that promotes community, love, and progress without being damaging. When thinking back on the old times, have we reflected too much on the bad and not enough on what went well? In forming new paradigms, keeping what worked in the past and building upon it with new and improved ideas is often the best strategy to ensure success. Ford v Ferrari shows that maybe in thinking about masculinity moving forward, we have less to leave behind than current thinking suggests.
Ford v Ferrari is high octane, thrilling cinema, featuring immersive car races that are impeccably directed and coordinated, but also has a genuine story of friendship and family at its center. Matt Damon and Christian Bale bring out the best of each other with great performances, displaying an undeniable and believable chemistry as friends that truly care for each other. Caitriona Balfe and Noah Jupe also provide a touch of softness to a film stuffed with machismo as Mollie and Peter Miles, Ken’s wife and son who cheer his racing efforts and inspire him to achieve, while worrying for him at the same time. Mollie especially works as the supportive wife who also has her own agency and can put Ken in line when needed. Josh Lucas pushes all the right buttons as the film’s pseudo-villain and Tracy Letts is imposing as corporate namesake Henry Ford II. Ford v Ferrari is both entertaining but also has interesting things to say about the struggle for artists and creatives in corporate infrastructures and the place of masculinity in our world. It is a film you can bring dad out to enjoy, but still with enough to offer to make you think as well.
Image: 20th Century Fox
