Le Mans 66

James Mangold takes charge of Le Mans 66, a kind of biopic focussing on Ken Miles (Christian Bale) and Carroll Shelby (Matt Damon) to tell the story of how Ford built and won the famous Le Mans 24 hour race in 1966.

For starters, it doesn’t sound like a terribly appealing concept, but as the characters are revealed and take shape you find yourself being drawn into the events and goings-on. However, the dichotomy of the striving, inventive and passionate drivers and engineers being pitted against the corporate greed and machinations of the Ford executives leaves a very strange after-taste. On the one hand you hope beyond anything else for success for the little guys: that they can overcome the odds to put the cat amongst the (Ferrari-red) pigeons. But then they are working for the corporate behemoth that is the Ford Motor Company and all the suits that seem to actively work to undermine the pure dreams of those that make this sport their lives, and all for the sake of increased profit.

There is a very British humour that runs through this film, especially from Miles, his wife Mollie (Catriona Balfe) and son Peter (Noah Jupe), and I really, really loved seeing it. It was strange to see the brash, unbridled joy of the specific, and dry, humour played large on the big screen, especially as Bale’s portrayal of Miles is borderline OTT, he is as relentless on his attitude to his Britishness as he is on the track: Strolling around the racetrack, awaiting his turn in the Le Mans race, with a cup of tea in hand. Kettle’s on!

The camaraderie between Shelby and Miles is wonderful and both Bale and Damon do a great job in bringing this to life, although the connection wasn’t quite as close as I thought it should have been and this subsequently didn’t elicit quite as much of the emotional ending that it could have had. The tensions really rise when the Ford executives, particularly from Leo Beebe (Josh Lucas), as they attempt to get their way in the running of the racing side of things is a constant tussle. It provides a feeling of being on unstable ground the whole way through the film, like at any moment the dreams of these hardworking committed men can be thrown away like yesterdays newspapers.

The sound, especially during the race sequences, is awesome. When the camera passes behind one of the cars, the thunderous rumble of the engine really goes through you but when put in concert with Marco Beltrami and Buck Sanders’ score, you get a building tension as the races develop which keeps you on the edge of your seat, and especially during the Le Mans race finale (which goes on for quite some time as you would expect from a 24 hour race!). When it does finish, you feel drained. But it is well balanced between the action and the drama, utilised to increase the pressure and tension of the scenes playing out, whether they are on the track or a moment of corporate strain. But interspersed with family moments or the pure exhilaration and escapism of Ken’s driving ability, him doing the thing he loves best.

It isn’t a perfect racing film, or an in depth biopic, but Le Mans 66 is a really good film full of heart and emotion to add to the adrenaline-inducing racing and the age-old struggle between good and evil (Ford in this instance!), between following your passion and the making of money. James Mangold has done a great job bringing this together and telling the story in an engaging way (that manages to make the 152 minute runtime pass by swiftly), but he must be thanking Christian Bale for heightening his film with a superb performance as the enigmatic and boisterous Ken Miles.