FERRARI reviewed by GREG KING
Director: Michael Mann
Stars: Adam Driver, Penelope Cruz, Shailene Woodley, Patrick Dempsey, Sarah Gadon, Jack O’Connell, Gabriel Leone, Derek Hill, Ben Collins.
Michael Mann’s first film since 2015’s Black Hat is a biopic about iconic former racing car driver turned entrepreneur Enzo Ferrari, who, at one stage, was the second most famous man in Italy, behind the Pope. But Mann’s film is not a conventional biopic, rather it focusses on one defining year in his life.
1957. The volatile relationship between Ferrari (played here by Adam Driver) and his firebrand wife Laura (Penelope Cruz) has imploded as the pair are still grieving over the death of their son and heir Dino twelve months earlier. Then Laura learns that Enzo has had another son, Peiro, with an American woman Lina (Shailene Woodley), with whom has had a secret decade-long relationship. Laura does not want Peiro to share the Ferrari name nor become an heir to the family business while she is still alive.
And the business that he and Laura established a decade earlier is now floundering and is on the verge of bankruptcy. Enzo decides that the only way for his business to survive is to win the Mille Miglia, a notoriously treacherous 1,000-mile race through the streets and highways of Italy. Throughout the years the race has seen a high death toll amongst both drivers and the spectators who lined the streets to cheer on the drivers. But a spectacular accident that left 10 people, including bystanders, dead in the 1957 race saw the Italian government clamp down on the race and eventually ban it.
Ferrari is a film that Mann has been trying to get made for nearly three decades. The film is based on the non-fiction book Enzo Ferrari: The Man, The Cars, The Races, The Machine which was written by automobile journalist Brock Yates, and has been adapted to the screen by the late British screenwriter Troy Kennedy Martin, best known for writing the 60s classic The Italian Job as well as for his work on the tv series Z Cars, etc. Martin’s script was written over a decade ago, and it appears a little old fashioned. Some additional material has been written by Mann and an uncredited David Rayfield.
Mann is known for his sleek, muscular and virile direction and visceral style, and his crime themed films often explored masculine characters. Dealing with complex personal relationships, romantic triangles and intimate character studies is not really his forte, but somehow his style is a perfect fit for the volatile relationship between Enzo and Laura. He fleshes out the emotional fireworks between the two. He comes into his own though with his usual muscular handling of the car race sequences which will set the blood racing for petrol heads. However, the tone overall is a bit ponderous, which is surprising given the energy with which he has directed films like Heat. The film lacks drama for much of the running time, only coming alive during the frenetic racing scenes and Mann imbues these with a white-knuckle tension. Cinematographer Erik Messerschmidt (Mank, The Killer, etc) brings an energy to the car racing scenes.
Driver has a strong physical presence on screen, but here he seems cast against type as the stoic Enzo Ferrari. Aged through makeup he downplays his usual screen persona to bring a sense of restraint and emotional turmoil to his portrayal of Ferrari as an aloof and driven man, focused on success at any cost. Matching him every step of the way as the volatile and frustrated Laura is Cruz, who delivers a ferocious, emotionally raw and passionate performance. Woodley however is given less to do as Enzo’s mistress.
Maria Djurkovic’s production design is good and captures the era perfectly. Also noticeable is the use of 50s Ferrari race cars, which further enhances the authenticity of the material.
The film also makes reference to a couple of moments that were dramatised in James Mangold’s 2019 film Ford V Ferrari, which only serves to remind us of what a superior car action film that was by comparison. Ferrari is not perfect, and for a film about racing cars it does lack pace. Nonetheless, it makes for a welcome return to the big screen for one of Hollywood’s premier directors of action.
★★★
