A need for speed in ‘Ford v Ferrari’

No-nonsense and proud, passionately dedicated to his work, fueled by the challenge of a new idea, Carroll Shelby in the 1960s set the sport of racing and, by connection, the auto industry on its ear. If he made movies instead of cars, “Ford v Ferrari” is the kind of movie he would have made.

“Ford v Ferrari” is instead the work of James Mangold, who blends flawed heroes (“Walk the Line,” “The Wolverine” and “Logan”) with a sense of exuberance and all their compulsive love for facing down adversity. Because of this, “Ford v Ferrari” is the most powerful movie Mangold has made to date.

The movie’s cockeyed optimism grows out of a visual style that makes every image look as bright and promising as Shelby’s single-minded determination to build a Ford car that will win the 24 Hours of LeMans and end Ferrari domination of the race.

But just beneath the sunny, stylized exterior lies a story of failure, disappointment and loss. The movie’s compulsive swagger, instead of manifesting neat ironies, gives the movie a wistful, bittersweet edge. The old photograph of the real Carroll Shelby that accompanies the movie’s final credits contains the character who embodies these qualities.

Christian Bale is the perfect actor to play Ken Miles, the expert race car driver with a preternatural knowledge of automobiles hired by Shelby, played by a superb Matt Damon, to drive the Ford’s gleaming silver and white GT40 at LeMans. Bale captures Miles’ relentless snappiness and the glints of humor that show through his flares of manic energy.

Bale gives Miles’ brawling, mercurial personality great charm. He seems to be coming at you chin first, daring you to back off or throw a punch in self-defense. Then he turns it into something genuinely heroic when it crashes head-on into the image-mongering, profit-conscious manipulations of American business, embodied by Ford and its executives.

Damon, starting out as a professional racer who is forced to retire because of a heart condition, reflects his own brand of heroism. He becomes the rock of the Ford racing team by refusing to allow anything, even heavy corporate pressure, to interfere with the mission to win LeMans.

The movie rushes through the script’s fine points with the breathlessness of Shelby’s GT40 yet still holds viewer interest. In inspired bits of casting, Tracy Letts plays Henry Ford II, the kind of boss who can threaten to fire everyone around him, then give Shelby a guarded vote of confidence, and, Jon Bernthal as the pre-Chrysler Lee Iaccoca, who becomes Shelby’s corporate ally. And there is the luminous Caitriona Balfe as Miles’ wife Molly. Bale and Balfe have a grand, understated moment together as they dance to a pop song while, behind them, the jet that was supposed to fly Miles to France takes off without him.

Thanks to Phedon Papamichael’s golden-toned photography and thrilling point-of-view racing sequences, Francois Audouy’s impressive production design and Daniel Orlandi’s convincing costumes, “Ford v Ferrari” has a handsome visual sheen without looking extravagant. Mangold has elaborated on these themes before, but never with so clear and emotional a sense of purpose.