FarrierCollins’s review published on Letterboxd:
Only person who says "bloody hell" more than Christian Bale as Ken Miles is Christian Bale in real life.
Happy Birthday to the bloke who will always be my favourite actor and a big reason I got into movies to begin with.
Absolutely loved this when I first saw it and that hasn't changed to this day. After seeing it four times in the cinema, I've lost track of how many times I've seen it now. It's just beautiful. A big story with emotion, heart, adrenaline pumping races and a group of characters I loved following through it all. Such a complete movie by James Mangold. If he knocks it out of the park with Dial of Destiny, than he'll be on a truly amazing streak with his past three films.
Ken Miles remains my favourite Bale performance and I'm confident more and more people will recognize it as one of his best. Matt Damon is terrific as Carroll Shelby, acting as a balancing act between the corporate suits and the racing team. I love their pairing and friendship onscreen so much. Nothing better than two guys in their mid 40s duking it out until they run out of breath and coming out of it with an even stronger bond. Kind of an unrelated note, but Jon Bernthal looks too good in a suit. His reaction shots are gold.
I'm lucky if I even feel this a handful of times over the course of a year watching movies, but this one just touches my heart. It's such a visceral feeling, incredibly rare, special and you know it when you feel it. For me, it comes when Miles decides to slow down. Everything from that to Mollie explaining to Peter that he's bringing them in all together and right to the finish line had me wiping away tears. And that's before the ending!
Ken Miles man, what a beauty.
