I am not a gearhead and have never been particularly entranced by racing movies. Despite that from the first previews I was intrigued and fascinated by the trailers for Ford v Ferrari. The fact that the film was directed by James Mangold who also directed the terrific Logan only heightened my interest and listening the Cinema Junkie’s interview with Mangold only sealed the deal.

Given the subject matter instead of avoiding my local AMC Theater’s AMC Dolby auditorium with the vibration capable recliner I selected it to deliberately enhance the experience.

So how did all this sort out?

Pretty damn well.

Ford v Ferrari is not principally about the racing it is about the people. It is a story concerned with the timeless themes of loyalty, friendship, and the passion that drives people. Centered on the relationship between Carroll Shelby (Matt Damon) former racecar driver and La Mans champion and mercurial Ken Miles an uncompromising dedicated British driver with terrible interpersonal skill as they attempt to take an American team from the Ford motor corporation to the winner’s circle at the 24 hours race at Le Mans. Along the way they battle each other, corporate politics, backstabbing, and the cruel equations of physics while challenged by the world’s foremost automotive engineers at Ferrari.

Each man, Shelby and Miles, battles personal demons that threaten to destroy their victory, and each grows out of the conflict, expanding their character and deepening their friendship. Along the way a host of iconic historic characters, Lee Iacocca and Henry Ford II among them both hinder and assist them in the nearly impossible quest. As I stated at the top of this piece I am not a gear head and never had any interest in the mechanical and yet the script and Mangold’s fine direction made it so not only I could follow the technical details and challenges the team face but I understood them well enough that dramatic impact came through when the film left no time for exposition.

For this screening the Dolby at AMC experience worked perfectly. Last year I watched A Quiet Place in the same auditorium and the vibration of the seats disrupted by immersion into that horror film, jolting me back into my reality out of the story’s but here it buried me into the experience, bring me just that much closer to the character’s environment.

Overall this was a great film to watch in the theater and one that even if you have little or no interest in racing you should see.