Michael Mann is a veteran American director of action movies and returns after some years with a biopic of sorts focusing on a key moment in the life of Enzo Ferrari, when facing bankruptcy and personal strife he managed to hold his bottle and motivate his team into winning the Mille Miglia road race.
This is 1957 and was a turning point in Ferrari’s fortunes and their approach to Fiat.
So, what to make of this film? It has some excellent features but definitely does not add up to the sum of all its parts. Possibly this is due to treating Ferrari as a suave cold fish who despite mourning a dead son and trying to be close to an illegitimate one is not a character we really root for. I also think that the scripting is Hollywood wooden in parts with some awkward cliché lines as Troy Kennedy Martin adapts a book and fills in gaps of personal conversations that we don’t know even exist.
Mann is great with the racing scenes (shout out to cinematographer Erik Messerschmidt too) and the recreation of that time in Italy seems very authentic.
Daniel Pemberton’s music is another plus. But the film seems dark a lot of the time and there is some rather pointless sex between one of the drivers (Gabriel Leone as De Portago) and his woman. Two car crashes add to the dark feel and the excitement of the races never seems to balance that.
I also feel that having it spoken in English rather than Italian prevents it reaching a sense of reality. Adam Driver is good enough to get by but Shailene Woodley never convinces as his mistress Lina Lardi no matter how much the wardrobe people make her look like 50’s Italian. Woodley has issues holding an accent too and frankly her part is uninspiring.
All of these factors leave you feeling under-inspired in a biopic that should lift you.
The major savior of the film is Penelope Cruz as his largely estranged wife and more present business partner. Her character is more interesting and Cruz attacks it with a mixture of gusto and restraint as a wronged but still sharp-minded woman. She dominates every scene she is in and lifts them and the film as far as she can. Possibly because she has the Latin blood the other main characters are missing. It’s one of her best recent performances and one she may still get prizes for.
Driver ends up convincing in part and he is such a sound actor that you believe in him. Shame he doesn’t get much more to do than look urbane.
3 stars plus
passionfilm 