“Ford v Ferrari” had its first screening at the Telluride Film Festival on Friday, and the expansive pic provided a reminder – amid a sea of independents that dominate festival season– of what big studios can do at their best.
Christian Bale and Matt Damon play two men whose friendship eventually led to a showdown between the Ford and Ferrari auto companies at the 1966 24 Hours of Le Mans, the world’s oldest auto endurance race. The film is about car racing, specifically about what makes a great racer versus an ordinary one. It turns out that what makes anyone great at anything is usually that they are doing it not for the money, not for the prizes, but for the pure love of the thing.