‘Ferrari’ is a glimpse at a time in Enzo Ferrari’s life where his personal and professional life were in turmoil. It is based on the book “Enzo Ferrari: The Man, the Cars, the Races, the Machine” by Brock Yates and the film takes on the challenges faced by the icon as he navigates his perilous course in life.
The actors do a good job of portraying the characters as complex flawed people. Adam Driver delivers a great performance and is compelling and persuasive as Ferrari but Penélope Cruz almost steals the film with an incredibly bold and sharp performance as his estranged, complicated wife, Laura Ferrari. Shailene Woodley played his long-time mistress, Lina, and I thought she was miscast.
Michael Mann has his trademark signature of a male protagonist navigating the labyrinth of his own tortured psyche and professional demands. Mann’s direction was fantastic with exceptional cinematography and sound design to make Ferrari memorable and give us all a pristine cinematic landscape. The cinematography is extremely crisp and slick with wide shots of racing and the scenery of vintage Italy. The stunt driving is outstanding, and the accident scenes are electric and frightening.
Overall, I thought this was a great film. It is not Michael Mann’s best movie, but it was nice to see him involved in another project like this one. Looking forward to Heat 2!