Ford v Ferrari Parent Guide

Lee Iacocca (Jon Bernthal) has an idea. The rising young Ford executive wants teenage Baby Boomers to perceive Ford cars as cool; not as stodgy family vehicles with declining market share. To reach this goal, Iacocca urges Henry Ford II (Tracy Letts) to develop a racing division that can compete in Europe. Ford is dismissive, until a personal insult from Italian racecar maker Enzo Ferrari (Remo Girone) stings his pride. Determined to beat Ferrari at his own game, Ford gives Iacocca carte blanche to hire whomever he needs to defeat the Italian on the fabled Le Mans course.

In Iacocca’s mind, the best man for the job is Carroll Shelby (Matt Damon), the only American to have won at LeMans, now sidelined by a heart condition. And Shelby is convinced that the best driver is Ken Miles (Christian Bale), a stubborn, temperamental Englishman whose racing career was derailed by his military service in World War II. Shelby and Miles find themselves struggling on two fronts: first, to develop the fastest car in the world; and second, to survive the constant corporate infighting among the Ford executives. You would be right to wonder which will prove to be the most difficult.

Ford v Ferrari blasts onto the screen and keeps racing throughout its (gulp) 152 minute run time. For car lovers, this is the Bugatti of cinema: fast, fun, mesmerizing, and slightly terrifying at high speed. Even if you, like me, aren’t interested in cars and get bored during the race scenes, this movie offers drama between larger-than-life characters, excellent acting, a tense true story, a gut-punch of a plot twist, laugh out loud comedy, and heart-rending moments. With something for everyone, this pulse-pounding popcorn pic is sure to be one of the biggest hits of the year.

Luckily, this film comes with little in the way of negative content. There are moments of extreme peril due to the nature of high speed racing, with cars crashing and exploding. But the biggest drawback to this film is profanity, with approximately 40 uses of crude language, including a single sexual expletive.

To counterbalance the swearing, Ford v Ferrari is chock full of positive themes. Messages about persistence, ingenuity, bouncing back from setbacks, never quitting, and demonstrating courage and loyalty abound in the story. There’s even a subplot involving Miles’ homelife, which depicts a warm and loving family and (rarely shown in movies) an affectionate and involved father who enjoys spending time with his son. With so much constructive content, there really aren’t any risks for teens and adults in seeing this film… unless you have a small bladder or a large drink – in which case its bladder-busting run time might force you to take a premature pit stop.