When 20th Century Fox greenlit James
Mangold’s “Ford v. Ferrari” — an original movie
with a nearly $100 million budget — the
director’s agent had some advice.
“Enjoy this,” Mangold recalled him saying. “This
will be the last one of these you ever make.”
“Ford v Ferrari,” which viscerally recounts
the efforts of an automotive designer (Matt
Damon) and a race car driver (Christian Bale)
to build a Ford that could beat Ferrari at the
Le Mans 24-hour race in 1966, has a lot going
for it: big-name movie stars, a director coming
off an Oscar-nominated hit (“Logan”) and a
marathon, nearly hour-long racing finale.