GT40 Ford at night, in the rain, at LeMans with Ken Miles driving.  All photos by Paul Goldfinger taken off the TV screen.  Click on the photos.

Christian Bale as Ken Miles  racing in the rain.

Diminished visibility and danger at LeMans, at night. in the rain.

Matt Damon as Carroll Shelby  holding his Ferrari  stopwatch.

By Paul Goldfinger, film reviewer at Blogfinger.net.

This film is beautifully done and is directed by James Mangold. It received a Best Picture nomination at the Oscars.   It is about international car racing at a major French course  called Le Mans, where national pride is at stake, but also competition among men with immense talent and skill.

Ferrari, the Italian royalty of car racing machines, usually wins the 24 hour challenging and world famous LeMans race competition.  But the Ford company wants to wear the mantle of producing not only practical cars for every-man but also of crafting beautiful racing cars that can dominate the field at LeMans and show up the arrogant elitists at Ferrari.

We meet the Ford executives who represent corporate America, and they, especially their leader Henry Ford II, appropriately are proud of their record up to the 1960’s, but they now want an extra measure of achievement.

They rightly can brag about what they accomplished in WWII producing most of the bombers that helped defeat our enemies, but Mr. Ford is eager to show the world what else the Ford company can do.

Henry Ford II enlists the help of two American racers/engineer/ designers:  Carroll Shelby (Matt Damon) and Ken Miles  (Christian Bale)  Ford is willing to spend as much money as  is needed to stick it to the Ferrari braggarts.

Shelby and Miles are typical can-do Americans, but they receive considerable flack from the up-tight Ford suits. Yet the determined duo manage to come up with the Ford GT 40, a powerhouse vehicle that can exceed 200 mph at over 7,000 rpm. This car, with Miles behind the wheel, can win in the rain and the dark of LeMans, a scary race venue.

Shelby is a successful driver and producer of fast performance cars for competition and for driving around town in by his wealthy customers.  He is no longer able to race.

Miles is a quirky and sometimes exasperating guy who knows how to win in dangerous conditions.  He and Shelby make a determined team and they bring their car to LeMans with fierce resolve.

If you see this movie, be prepared to view a lot of racing  scenes and hear a lot of car talk.  But all of that is well done.   Also, it’s too long at 2 1/2 hours.

However,  the filming is masterful, and the race scenes are gripping and exciting.  You want to hold onto your seats and you wish you had a seat belt.

Forgetting about the “win the race” story line, this movie can be appreciated at another level where intelligence, will power, cooperation, friendship and American values win the day.

Damon and Bale are wonderful actors.  Bale lost weight for his role while Damon looked a little rotund.  Bale, as Miles,  flashes his British accent, but his entire auto career has been in America.

The film is PG13, and  the beautiful Caitriona Balfe, as Miles’ wife, is dealt some dark moments, but nevertheless, she is quite sexy especially in an early scene where she shows up at her husband’s garage and they do some play acting together.  It is a heated and well done love scene, done with humor, which proves that a film doesn’t require actual sex to be erotic. Many old movies make the same point.  Caitriona is an Irish actress best known for her role in the “Outlander” series.

I found this movie at Red Box.

“Stout Hearted Men” by The Royal Artillery and Parachute Regiment Bands and Chorus: