Can you watch the film Le Mans 66 if you don’t know anything about sports car racing? 

In this short film review, I’ll explore whether the film Le Mans 66 can be enjoyed by those who know absolutely nothing about cars or competitive racing. Personally, I know less than nothing about race car driving, and don’t completely understand the enthusiasm for high-end sports cars.

However, it’s a good film that can make a complete layperson (me!) understand something they have absolutely no interest in (cars) …especially if it features Christian Bale’s West Midlands accent.

So, despite my lack of interest in the subject matter (as in I had never even heard of the Le Mans race and I’m still not 100% sure whether Le Mans is a place or a person or a made-up name) I watched Le Mans 66 to see whether this lack of knowledge would impede my enjoyment of the 2019 biopic. (Side note, I just looked up Le Mans. It’s a town. It looks lovely!)

*Content warnings* : Violence, swearing, car crashes

Title, Date: Le Mans 66 (or Ford v Ferrari) 2019

Director: James Mangold

Star rating: 4*

What is the Film Le Mans 66 About?

Wanting to invent a race car to rival that of Ferrari, Ford Motor Company’s team of marketing executives hire Carroll Shelby - former race car driver and car manufacturer - to create a race car and compete in the 66 Le Mans 24 hour endurance race (which honestly sounds like my personal hell.) 

Shelby’s company includes Ken Miles, his close friend and fellow race car driver, who he believes would be the best driver to represent Ford in the race. Conflict arises during the build-up to the famous race, as Shelby is forced to argue their corner against the high-powered suits at Ford.

Who Was in The Film Le Mans 66?

Le Mans 66 stars Matt Damon and Christian Bale as Carroll Shelby and Ken Miles respectively.

It kind of goes without saying that two of Hollywood’s most celebrated contemporary actors do a good job of portraying their real-life counterparts, but to get specific about it, the machismo chemistry between these two characters underpins the genuine love they obviously feel for each other.

Matt Damon sports a stylish black cowboy hat and a Southern drawl, and - this is the last time I’ll bring it up, promise - I just have to mention Christian Bale’s West Midlands accent one more time. (He literally puts about four syllables in the word ‘like’. The film is honestly worth watching just for that alone.

Ken Miles was well known for being difficult to work with, with a famously hot temper. Like a lot of celebrities with an extremely specific and rare skill set, he was on the whole forgiven his transgressions because of his amazing abilities on the track. 

Bale does a good job of portraying this hot temper, screaming at the mechanics in the pits, hurling wrenches at Matt Damon’s perfectly symmetrical face, and generally displaying a just-about-to-bubble-over tension which could switch at the drop of a (cowboy) hat.

You know the saying “Behind every great man is a great woman threatening to speed-race their car into a ditch”? Caitriona Balfe plays Mollie Miles, the great woman in question who Ken Miles married and fathered a son with (Noah Jupe.) 

It’s nice to see a movie about a man who does something inherently dangerous (honestly, how is race car driving even legal?!) avoid the cliched, clutching-her-pearls stereotype of the worried wife. 
That’s because the real Mollie Miles wasn’t frightened by what her husband did. By all accounts she understood it completely, and actively encouraged Ken to fulfil his dreams while matching his hot temper with her own. 

Tracy Letts portrays Henry Ford with a scary, threatening stillness, tinged with a vulnerability caused by carrying daddy’s legacy on expensively tailored shoulders. His team of marketing executives features Leo Beebe (Josh Lucas), a steely-eyed villain who is determined to derail Ken Miles’ progress in order to prove his own worth to Ford. 

Personally, I didn’t feel that this antagonist was necessary in a story already rich with conflict. Beebe schemes against Carroll and Miles, just barely stopping shy of tapping his fingers together like Actual Mr. Burns. Conversely, Jon Bernthal is underused as the sick-haired marketing exec tasked with overthrowing Ford’s whole marketing scheme.

Is Le Mans 66 Interesting?

Although racing is an inherently fast-paced sport, the high-speed, (stressful!) racing scenes are counterbalanced by quieter, more contemplative moments, which reveal the sport of racing to be far more complex than just… driving the vroom vroom cars real fast. 

Le Mans 66 creates a balance between action and drama, which results in a compelling, well-paced film.

Who Wrote Le Mans 66?

The script for Le Mans 66, penned by John-Henry Butterworth, Jez Butterworth and Jason Keller, is a well-written interpretation of real-life events, smattered with brilliant one liners and some quite overt car euphemisms. (That’s what comes from gendering inanimate objects, I guess. ‘You can feel her groaning underneath you’ is something Ken Miles genuinely says about his race car.)

So, can you watch Le Mans 66 if you don’t care about race car driving?

Although it is heavily focused on race car driving, Le Mans 66 is similar to Moneyball in that it’s basically a film about men arguing over who is right and who is wrong. (No surprise there.) Although there’s a lot more to it, this relationship seems to be the central conflict that drives the story forwards. 

Should I Watch Le Mans 66?

Fast cars? Check. Amazing costumes? Check. Hilariously thick accents (sorry, that is really the last time I’ll mention it now)? Check. Real, human drama? Check.
Even if you don’t care about cars, I would whole-heartedly recommend Le Mans 66. It’s available to buy on Amazon Prime Video from £9.99 - and if you can catch it while it’s available to rent, it’ll only cost you £1.99.

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Written by Alex Scarlett

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