The challenge of the 24 Hours of Le Mans, which gets reduced to an unparsimonious Two Hours and 32 Minutes of Le Movie, is that you have to go fast, really fast, as fast as you can and for 24 hours on an uneven, treacherous track, sometimes at night, sometimes in the rain, all while not destroying the automobile itself, and also not the drivers. Occasionally, you become One with Le Car, somewhere right around 7,000rpm, and you either ascend into pure energy, or you blow a rod shifting into a bonus gear.

There are a few chances for Ford v Ferrari to be a more socially meaningful film, maybe more openings for more clever statements about the stuffiness of businessmen and suited executives versus the life-loving, individualistic visionaries who make the businessmen jealous because they do not have the creativity or talent to do much beyond monetizing other people's excellences. On the other hand, the movie does a good job of instilling the adrenaline rush of setting new lap records, none of which feels very safe.

If we all were to make a list of stuff to do for exactly 24 hours, speed racing is not likely to appear on many of our lists. Thankfully, most activities can be achieved in under three hours.