The First "Ford v. Ferrari" Trailer Looks to Speed Things Up This Oscar Season

Scene from Ford v. Ferrari

As the summer months warm up, it's time to start looking forward to Oscar season. While it has become more of a year-round event, it's still dominated by Fall releases. There's been plenty to look forward to, such as John Crowley's The Goldfinch, but few feel as anticipatory as the latest from director James Mangold. In what is one of the buzziest films yet, Ford v. Ferrari released a trailer featuring Oscar-winners Christian Bale and Matt Damon. Along with Mangold's recent Oscar nomination for Best Adapted Screenplay for Logan (a rare comic book nomination), the film has a lot of fire in its belly and looks to be one of the more exciting period pieces of 2019. If anything, the racing looks cool and the chemistry between its leads look to be a big enough reason to see the film, even if it turns out to just be fine.

While it doesn't have the same clout that it once did, there's nothing more exciting about an Oscar season than seeing a star-studded (literal) vehicle in a great first trailer. On average, it feels like Bale has been on a roll over the past decade, first winning an Oscar for The Fighter before receiving several more nominations, including one this past year for Vice. He seems like an inevitable shoo-in every time that he steps on the screen. Meanwhile, it's been a few years since Matt Damon charmed audiences with the crowd pleaser The Martian. It seems like the perfect opportunity to see both come together and present a story full of rich catharsis and action that is appealing to a wider audience.

There is one catch however for this type of story. As much as period pieces tend to go over well with audiences and Oscar voters, there is something about auto-racing that tends to not capture enthusiasm. A few years back, director Ron Howard released the film Rush amid high expectations for Oscar glory. While it would receive some Golden Globe nominations, it missed out on any bigger prizes. If Ford v. Ferrari were to make it to Oscar night, it would be a miracle, especially given that the average racing movie has at best gotten into technical fields. Still, with Bale and Damon behind the wheel, it may be harder to ignore, lest the film follows in Rush's pattern and do just bad enough to have a bad air around it.

Check out the trailer below:

Looks really good. Here's the plot according to IMDb:

American car designer Carroll Shelby and driver Ken Miles battle corporate interference, the laws of physics and their own personal demons to build a revolutionary race car for Ford and challenge Ferrari at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1966.

It sounds pretty promising, especially with the talent that far exudes the average race car drama. Then again, this looks to have more of a humane component, centering around the figures who made the cars go fast. If the film can capture the core of these two individuals, there's a good chance that the film can escape the curse and become an essential part of this Fall season. Given the star power, it looks like a better than usual chance that this could come true. 

It also sounds great from Mangold's perspective, especially coming off of Logan. While many would suggest that superhero films deserve to be separated from "real" films, I'm of the mindset that Logan is one of the best films made in the past five years. More than any other film, it captured the struggle of the aging hero and an attempt to come to terms with his violent past. There was plenty of humor and heart mixed in that at least made me feel like Mangold has a depth and understanding of character that could be translated to something more real. The trailer already has some good character dynamics that capture what this film could be. There's a drive that makes these characters compelling.

Ford v. Ferrari is looking to be one of the bigger gambles of this Fall season. Even if last year's Best Picture winner (Green Book) featured plenty of driving, Oscar voters have yet to fully jump on board with racing dramas. If this film can breakthrough, it will be quite a miracle and one that produces something more universal and human. If it can get into Best Picture, it will be even more of a surprise because of this. Still, the first trailer is one of the most exciting so far and will hopefully be sticking around as the race heats up. Sorry for all of the puns in this article I assure you that most of them were unintentional.