The “Ford v. Ferrari” soundtrack — for those who love driving music

“Ford v. Ferrari,” my favorite picture of last year, won two Oscars Sunday night — for editing and sound editing.

It deserved them.

And watching it again Monday night, before it and most of this year’s Oscar contenders lose their cineplex screens this weekend, I was struck by not just the sound, but the entertaining touches that put this on my “I know I will see this one again, many times, over the years” list — the true test of a “best picture” on the personal level.

Tracy Letts was a GD delight as Henry Ford II, best supporting actor-worthy. Bluster and childish bullying, weeping like a nursery schooler after the lap from hell that Carrol Shelby (Matt Damon) put him through.

Damon was in the pocket, sharp as always. Ray McKinnon had the bit part of a lifetime as Phil Remington, the engineer/pit-man/voice of reason in the crew.

And there is stuff going on in Christian Bale’s usual immaculate turn as Ken Miles that you can feel as much as see. Hunched over, a little hitch in his gait (A WWII vet jogging through sunny SoCal? I doubt it.), he wears the “miles” like a veteran driver.

The soundtrack — Nina Simone and Link Wray and Buck Owens and The Byrds and original music by Marco Beltrami and Buck Sanders — is worth having just for this Elvis band-leader, Rock Hall of Famer James Burton cover of “Polk Salad Annie” that gives the movie it’s jaunty, driving bounce.

 

 

 

 

About Roger Moore

Movie Critic, formerly with McClatchy-Tribune News Service, Orlando Sentinel, published in Spin Magazine, The World and now published here, Orlando Magazine, Autoweek Magazine
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