Ford v Ferrari

First Hit: I love good car movies, and this one qualifies as one of the best.

It’s been a while since I’ve been to a night showing of a film. In picking this evening time and this film, it was both pleasing and irritating to be in a nearly full theater. The fun part is that I often see films where there are less than 15 people in the theater, and seeing an almost full theater gave me hope that others will continue to support going to movie theaters.

The irritation part is the noise that people make during the film presentation. Why someone thinks their remembrances of the period, or what they think about what they’re seeing on the screen is essential to spout out while the film is playing, is beyond me. The gentleman sitting next to me turned around just as I did the same thing and together we asked them to be quiet. It took us doing this twice for them to get that they weren’t at home watching cable TV.

Despite the noise interruptions, this film unfolded in a fun way. Remembrances of the 1960s abounded with cars from the era on the streets. Yes, they were perfectly restored vehicles, but it was easy to gloss over the prettiness to enjoy the beauty of those old cars reflecting their time and place in my life. There were Shelby Cobras, Porsches, Ford Falcons, a Mini, a woody (fake wood) wagon, Ferraris, and Ford GT 40s.

The film is about how Enzo Ferrari (Remo Girone) turned down Henry Ford II’s (Tracy Letts) offer to buy 90% of Ferrari’s car production company. While turning down Ford’s offer and partnering with Fiat, Enzo made unflattering remarks about Ford and his cars to the Ford negotiation team. Angered by the personal comments, Ford vowed to beat perennial 24 Hours Le Mans race winner, Ferrari.

Chief Ford negotiator, Lee Iacocca (Jon Bernthal), was then tasked with finding a car builder who will build a Ford-based car to beat Ferrari. Finding Carroll Shelby (Matt Damon), the one-time winning driver of the 24 Le Mans, to make the car, Ford believes they found their man. Henry Ford gives Shelby carte blanche to build this car.

Shelby, in turn, hires his friend and race car driver Ken Miles (Christian Bale), to be his test driver and co-builder. The main reason is that he can trust Miles as he knows cars and feels their abilities and problems as he drives them. Miles is also creative when figuring out how to make cars work better. The downside of Miles is that he’s a maverick in his thinking and hates to conform to rules and being told what to do.

Miles is married Mollie (Caitriona Balfe), who’s amused by her husband’s friendship with Shelby and there are couple scenes that this loving amusement shows up. One such scene is when Shelby and Ken fight near the miles home. Mollie bringing out a folding chair to watch the frecus was hilarious. One thing the film makes clear is that Ken is a loving devoted father who loved showing his son Peter (Noah Jupe) the ins and outs of racing.

The film spends time showing Miles and Shelby developing the GT40 to race in Le Mans, but when it comes time to ship the car off to the race, Leo Beebe (Josh Lucas) Senior VP at Ford, chooses another driver to drive the vehicle at the Le Mans race.

Shelby is pissed, Miles is severely disappointed, and of course, the new driver doesn’t feel the car like Miles would have and ends up blowing it apart during the race.

Ford wants to fire Shelby for the failure, but the meeting between Ford and Shelby is fantastic because Shelby convinces Ford that he, Ford, has Ferrari where he wants him, scared. Scared because Shelby’s car, with another driver, was faster than the Ferrari, especially on the straightaway at Le Mans. This was a great scene. It’s reflecting Shelby’s legendary ability to sell anyone on anything.

Ford tells Shelby to fix the car and get it ready for the next Le Mans and that Shelby has control over the driver.

The rest of the movie shows how they develop a stronger, lighter, faster GT40 car. But when Beebe intercedes again about Miles being the driver at Le Mans, Shelby takes Ford out in the GT40 and scares the crap out of him, literally, and at that moment negotiates with Ford to let Miles drive. As part of the deal he offers Ford his Shelby American company if Miles races and loses.

It’s scenes like this that are fun to watch and reminded me of the time that a friend of a friend, gave me a ride in a Lamborghini Miura, and scared the crap out of me while racing around a sizeable empty factory parking lot at a very high speed.

There were sections of this 152-minute film that could have been trimmed, but I was engaged enough to not care about the lulls of uninteresting or engaging material. Other characters added to this story and made better. One such person was Chief Mechanic Phil Remington (Ray McKinnon). His ideas about creating a way to change the brake assembly were brilliant.

Bale was intensely and independently outstanding in this role as race car driver Ken Miles. HIs ability to show tenderness and love towards his family while being aggressively focused on making the car faster was terrific. Damon was wonderful as Carroll Shelby. The scene with Ford after the first loss and his fight with Miles in front of Mile’s home reflected the off-told stories about the legend of Carroll Shelby. Bernthal was good as the famed Iacocca. Balfe was convincing as Ken’s wife. Her support and understanding of her husband were excellently portrayed. My favorite scene shows Balfe driving Ken home while pressing him on his whereabouts. Her focused intensity was sublime. Letts was priceless as Ford II. The bullying way he used around his staff and factory followed by his being humbled by the spin in the GT40 was fun to watch. McKinnon was excellent as devoted Chief Mechanic for Shelby. Beebe was appropriately arrogant, self-serving, and sharp as a foil to Shelby’s vision. Girone was satisfyingly perfect as Enzo Ferrari. Jez and John-Henry Butterworth wrote an expansive script that could have been shortened and made crisper. However, there are some outstanding scenes in the film. James Mangold directed this film. Racing scenes can get old quick, and Mangolds transcends the genre with excellent editing and cinematography, which make the racing scenes in this film come alive.

Overall: I liked seeing this film for multiple reasons, including that the subsequent Ford built Shelby Mustang GT-350 and GT-500 had parts made by my father’s company in the late 1960s.

A Quiet Place

First Hit: Well done film and the silence of the actors made all the difference in the world.

The film takes out all the drama of how these aliens arrived and take over the planet by starting at day 89.

We surmise through captions of their sign language, that the Abbott family is one of just a few families surviving the alien invasion. Husband Lee (John Krasinski), wife Evelyn (Emily Blunt), and children Regan (Millicent Simmonds), Marcus (Noah Jupe), and Beau (Cade Woodward) are introduced scavaging through an empty store, in a vacant town, for food and supplies.

The aliens cannot see but have a highly-developed sense of hearing. They hunt for their food by listening and attacking. Therefore no one talks and uses sign language. Due to a child’s curiosity and desire to play with a toy, he turns on one of the toys they get from the store and the noise elicits a swift response and killing of Beau early in the film.

This was an effective way for the audience to become anxious of any noise the characters make during the scenes. When Evelyn becomes pregnant with a child, I sat their shocked because I know how much noise a baby makes let alone the noise the mother may make giving birth.

The film moves along in time by showing a graphic of how many days have gone by; we assume that it’s the number of days after the alien invasion.

We learn that there are other survivors because in the evening Lee lights a fire on top of a tower and as he looks around the valley and hills we see other fires.

The careful laying of sand on the paths they walk show a thoughtful detail that enhances the films successfulness. Adding to this is a family drama of Regan thinking her dad doesn’t love her because she assisted her youngest in getting the toy that caused his demise. She’s also deaf which did two things: Created a way for the family to be very adept at sign language and for Lee to find ways to help her daughter by experimenting with hearing aids that also sent signals to directly through her skull.

Suspense is high in this film and the noise level is low which made for a great combination.

Krasinski was wonderful as father, husband and champion of keeping his family alive and well. Loved the hike he took with Marcus to help him move through his fear. Blunt was fantastic. Her expressions of love and fear were remarkable. Having the baby in the circumstances the film sets up, was amazing. Simmonds was truly a gift in this film. She carried her struggle at being different, smart and independent in a sublime way. Jupe was excellent as the middle child who feared their circumstance the most, yet became heroic. Bryan Woods and Scott Beck wrote a wonderful screenplay that elicited curious suspense. Krasinski did an excellent job directing this story, wife and himself.

Overall: One of the better horror films I’ve seen in that loud noise wasn’t used to try to shock and scare me.

Wonder

First Hit:  This film was incredibly touching and wonderful to watch.

From the get go, I was totally taken away and transported into a wide-ranging realm of feelings and emotions. Wearing a NASA space helmet is how we are introduced to Auggie, August Pullman (Jason Tremblay). Because we know Auggie has a facial deformity we want to see what he looks like.

Helping the audience engage and look at themselves, early in the film, Auggie’s mother Isabel (Julia Roberts) tells Auggie that everyone has scars from living their life.

The first moment I was deeply touched by the depth of what Auggie was going to deal with was his first day of school. He had been homeschooled by his mom and going into the 5th grade was to be his first foyer into the public-school system.

As his dad Nate (Owen Wilson), Isabel, and sister Via (Izabela Vidovic) walk him to the front of school, the audience can feel the anxious anticipation of his helmet removal and seeing all the kids stare at him with a somewhat shocked look in their faces.

The first day is hell for him, no one really talks to him and a rumor begins that if someone touches him, they’ll get the plague. I felt for him deeply as he was ignored. Slowly he gains one friend, Jack Will (Noah Jupe), because Auggie helps him with a science pop-quiz.

In the meantime, the film takes time and develops Via who is ignored by her family most of her life because of Auggie’s circumstance. Another way this film adds to its depth is by doing short 5 minute segments about specific people in the film including Via, Jack and Via’s close friend Miranda (Danielle Rose Russell). It was smart and done in an effective manner.

The film really focuses on the dynamics that the family deals with not just Auggie’s struggle.

As Auggie finds his footing in school his classmates begin to see his depth and personality, which opens the door for his life to become more socially whole.

Tremblay was amazing as Auggie. He exemplified the struggle a young boy with this deformity would have to deal with. Roberts was, divine. Her laugh, smile and tears of both sadness and joy come across as genuine. She doesn’t do a lot of movies these days, so to get a chance to see her is wonderful. Wilson is great as Auggie’s father. Vidovic was sublime as Auggie’s sister. She embodied the young capable daughter finding her own way as her family focuses on her brother. The play she stars in encapsulated the story perfectly. Jupe was superb as the first young boy to reach out to Auggie. Millie Davis (plays school mate Summer) was like her character’s name “Summer.” Russell was really good as Via’s friend who had to find her way back into the Pullman’s family. Mandy Patinkin as the school principle Mr. Tushman was amazing. We all needed a principle like him in our lives. Stephen Chbosky, Steve Conrad, and Jack Thorne wrote a strong and effective screenplay. Director Chbosky got amazing performances from everyone.

Overall:  This was a truly wonderful story turned into a touching film.

Suburbicon

First Hit: A poorly conceived attempt to be relevant, darkly funny, and mysterious.

I generally like films written by Joel and Ethan Coen. I've previously enjoyed films directed by George Clooney. Actors Matt Damon and Julianne Moore always make roles better than they are written so I was looking forward to seeing this film. However, the mixture of this group didn’t resonate as something valid or comprehensive.

There were out-loud funny moments in a dark humor sort of way, but most of the time, the lack of information to string the film together had me a bit flummoxed.

Based in 1959, planned clean beautiful communities were sprouting up all over the United States. In Suburbicon there are two major stories. One, is about a black family moving into this all white neighborhood and how they are treated. Horribly is the answer to this part of the film. The second is how does Gardner Lodge (Matt Damon) respond to being pressured to repay an outstanding loan? Not very well.

The set up to the neighborhood of Suburbicon is that this is an upcoming proactive modern community that allows everyone to be prosperous. Everyone can live there, unless you have a different skin color. That's what Mr. and Mrs. Myers (Leith M. Burke and Karimah Westbrook respectively) quickly find out. Each night neighbors gather around their home and shout racist epithets at the home. Each night, the crowd gets larger. And the Myers simply, elegantly, and clearly ignore the rants.

In a symbolic scene in the grocery store, the store manager stands behind the checker and tells Mrs. Myers that each item she wants to buy is $20.00, is pointedly outrageous; “bread? $20.00, Milk? $20.00.” Instead of raising her voice and acting out, with a smile on her face, she leaves the store to go shop somewhere else.

The upside of this aspect of the story is that the Myers' son Andy (Tony Espinosa) strikes up a great friendship with Nicky (Noah Jupe) who is Gardner and his wife Rose’s (Julianne Moore) son. They ride bikes together and play catch with a baseball together. Both boys are surviving their own private hell.

Gardner’s story is more elusive in that we don’t know why he’s in debt. We are introduced to him and his wife Rose, who is in a wheelchair, as they are being shaken down in their house by loan enforcers. His wife dies from the incident but we later learn that Gardner may have something to do with the death, just like he had something to do with her being in a wheelchair. Margaret (also Julianne Moore), who is Rose's twin sister is visiting them and helping to manage their household.

The way Gardner deals with the death of his wife, the inclusion of his wife's sister into the household, the moralistic and societal way he tells his son that he’s too young to understand what is going on in the family and the world, and how the violence is used to resolve his issues, just didn’t work well. There were too many unanswered questions nor was there a clear plot line.

There seemed to be an element of this film that was trying to be cutesy while also being edgy and it just didn’t work. Many of the sets were nice to see as they reminded me of growing up in that time period. I didn’t think the two major stories were integrated very well and certainly weren't well matched to make it work holistically.

Damon was OK and it wasn’t his acting that failed, it was mostly the script and Clooney’s poor direction of the poorly conceived script. Moore was OK in both roles and I thought the best part was her being interviewed by the insurance investigator. Westbrook was probably brought the best acting to the film. She embodied the role of smiling through the racist actions against her and her family. Jupe did a really good job as the son trying to figure out why his mom is gone, his dad is fighting people, and his aunt Margaret is living with them. Espinosa was very good as the neighbor kid who was attempting to put the racism behind him and just be a young kid. The Coen’s script had some bones but it wasn’t a good final product. Clooney just didn’t have a handle on a unifying theme and objective point to this film.

Overall:  Not worth the time to see it.