Michael Mann is 80 years old. He has been, and still is, interested in characters’ complexities. It took 30 years for Mann to bring the Ferrari story to the screen.
If you’re expecting an Enzo Ferrari biography, Michael Mann’s film only centres on one year, 1957, when Ferrari prepared his racing team for the Mille Miglia, an open road, endurance-based race over 1000 miles.
Meanwhile, in the groundbreaking development of the high-powered Italian Formula One sports car, Ferrari’s manufacturing company is suffering from severe financial bleeding. Bankruptcy might be the next phase. Given little choice, he knows he must merge with another car company to continue doing business. Winning a major race should bring him sufficient prospects.
Additionally, Enzo Ferrari (a commendable performance by Adam Driver) must cope with domestic problems. He and estranged wife Laura (a loud-mouthed, explosively volatile Penelope Cruz) grieve for their only son who died a year earlier. Ferrari has a mistress, Lina Lardi (a miscast Shailene Woodley), who pressures her lover to grant their illegitimate son, Piero, the Ferrari name.
Adam Driver starred in some high-quality films prior to nominations of the 2023 Academy Awards, but a Best Actor nomination never came his way. It’s unlikely Oscar will come knocking in 2024. Driver’s interpretation of Ferrari makes him a juggernaut and unrecognisable considering in most of his previous roles, including his turn as Kylo Ren in two Star Wars instalments; he kept his shoulder-length hair. Now as a middle-aged Ferrari he’s grey with a short back and sides. Appearance-wise, with a bit of a paunch, he convinces in the role. His performance is practically flawless, with the hint of an Italian accent in his word pronunciation.
What works against Driver is that Enzo Ferrari, as the second-most famous Italian after the Pope, isn’t very likeable. A race car driver’s death was considered acceptable collateral damage by developers, even the public. However, when Ferrari displays no empathy whatsoever after a fatal crash, it doesn’t sit well. He blames the driver’s mother for the fatality because she disapproved of her son’s choice for a bride, deeming her of a low class. The driver, according to Ferrari, was distracted from his duty. Ferrari was always a man in control, but to dismiss a life with a simple guesstimation is plain hard-hearted.
His wife Laura is also unlikeable. She’s keeping the business afloat with her umpteen lira shares and Ferrari simply wants her to give it all up so a merger can occur. Penelope Cruz is a competent actor and she chews up the scenery within her fraught character, but it’s doubtful an Oscar will come calling in 2024.
Patrick Dempsey is driver Piero Taruffi. Prior to the film, he had been behind the wheel of a race car and, like Paul Newman, participated in auto races. He admitted he’d never considered how precise a driver must be and how dangerous the sport of auto racing was not only for the driver, but for family as well.
The whole film comes to a thudding halt whenever Shailene Woodley’s interpretation of Ferrari’s mistress washes over the screen. Woodley makes no attempt to sound Italian and delivers every line in a broad Californian accent.
There’s a lot of yakety-yak among the characters to wade through. The opening scenes did not hook and I was never fully invested in the film. What makes the whole film worth the two hour plus sit is the car racing. A driver’s Point of View (POV) takes precedence and every audience member is behind the wheel of the famous red car. These are exciting, heart-thumping sequences.
Movie: Ferrari
Duration: 130 mins
Director: Michael Mann (Heat, Collateral)
Starring: Adam Driver, Penelope Cruz, Shailene Woodley, Patrick Dempsey.
Rating: ***½
Reviewed by Lawrenty
