'Ford vs. Ferrari'

If movies were automobiles, “Ford vs. Ferrari” would be an old-fashioned muscle car, a big piece of Detroit steel, gleaming on the surface but with plenty of horsepower where it counts.

The title suggests one kind of conflict, between two automakers. And, yes, director James Mangold shows us that battle in the 1960s, as the Ford Motor Company and its CEO, Henry Ford II (Tracy Letts), seeks to overcome slumping sales by coming up with something new. That idea, brought in by a younger executive, Lee Iacocca (Jon Bernthal), is to put Ford’s money behind a race car, to challenge the legendary Ferrari at the 24 Hours of LeMans.

But the real battle at the heart of this story is waged by two men, auto designer Carroll Shelby (Matt Damon) and race driver Ken Miles (Christian Bale). Ford, at Iacocca’s suggestion, hires Shelby to lead the effort to develop a car that can beat the grandmaster, Enzo Ferrari (Remo Girone). Shelby hires Miles, a great driver but also a temperamental one, and they soon are in the throes of building a great race car from the ground up.

But Shelby and Miles soon realize they’re not just fighting the clock or gravity. They’re also fighting the entrenched corporate culture of Ford, often in the person of the image-obsessed marketing boss Leo Beebe (Josh Lucas). Beebe is more concerned with what Miles might say into a hot microphone than whether he can win a race — and Shelby finds he has to claw back at Ford’s straitlaced attitude to get a car in shape for LeMans.

It’s a man’s world in “Ford vs. Ferrari,” but one woman does stand out. That’s Caitrione Balfe (“Outlander”) as Mollie, Ken’s wife, who’s supportive of her husband’s racing dream but not blind to the dangers he faces behind the wheel.

Damon captures Shelby’s Texas swagger, and a tight-lipped determination to get his car on the track no matter what. It’s not as splashy a role as Bale’s Miles, but it’s a dead heat which actor does more to keep the story flowing.

Mangold and his writers (Jez Butterworth, his brother John-Simon Butterworth, and Jason Keller) capture the cool, retro feel of the 1960s nicely. They also manage to capture that special swagger of Detroit’s car culture, and the executives who have faith that their product to overcome the tumult of the Vietnam War, the Kennedy assassination, and the whole upheaval of the ‘60s.

Mangold’s command of the camera and editing bay are seen in the movie’s frenetic final half hour, a nail-biter depiction of the 24 Hours of LeMans. It’s a perfect half-hour at the movies — something as elusive as the “perfect lap” Miles seeks — and a capper on a biographical drama that has both speed and gentle handling.

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‘Ford vs. Ferrari’

★★★1/2

Opens Friday, November 15, in theaters everywhere. Rated PG-13 for some language and peril. Running time: 152 minutes.