Movie Review: 'Ferrari'

Ferrari (2023)

Directed by Michael Mann

Written by Troy Kennedy Martin

Starring Adam Driver, Shailene Woodley, Penelope Cruz

Release Date December 25th, 2023

Published December 21st, 2023

There is no question from me that Michael Mann is an exceptional director. His talent is undeniable but if you need proof, check his Oscar nominations for The Insider and for being a Producer on The Aviator. His films have seen remarkable success and shown incredible staying power. Take, for instance, his beloved classic Heat which still gets rapturous reviews from new audiences who discover it year after year. You can sense that I am setting you up, right? It's not entirely what you think. Michael Mann's newest film, Ferrari, starring Adam Driver, features exceptional direction, superb cinematography, and exceptional effects and stunt driving.

I just can't make myself care about the subject. Is that a failing of Michael Mann as a filmmaker or, is it merely that the problems of a rich, philandering, man obsessed with car racing just isn't relatable or compelling as the lead character in a movie. Adam Driver invests the character of real life car magnate, Enzo Ferrari, with charisma, personality, and a not terribly distracting Italian accent but, he's still playing a character that defied my ability to care about him. I don't care about car racing. And, I supremely, assuredly do not care about the supposed problems of a very rich man on a journey to remaining a rich and troubled man despite being responsible for multiple deaths in the pursuit of his love of race cars.

Ferrari picks up the story of Enzo Ferrari, founder of the famed Ferrari car company, in 1957, in the immediate aftermath of the death of his beloved son and heir, Dino Ferrari. The death of his son has driven a wedge between Enzo and his wife, Enzo's mother, Laura Ferrari (Penelope Cruz), a turbulent personality expressing her pain and grief via explosions of vitriol toward the husband she feels is responsible for their son's death. By Laura's reasoning, Dino stretched himself to the breaking point pursuing his father's love of car racing, causing him to die at 24 from Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy.

The rift between husband and wife has grown to such a degree that Enzo has started a new family with his mistress, Linda Lardi (Shailene Woodley). Enzo has purchased a villa for Linda and their son, Piero, where he comes to stay regularly while somehow not letting on to Laura that he's been cheating. This is a lot padding and not particularly compelling. Woodley is fine but exists mostly as a device to strain Enzo and Laura's marriage, regardless of how true the story of Enzo and his mistress may be. Michael Mann doesn't appear to be very interested in developing Laura as a character or giving her a function in the film beyond being a plot device.

No, the only thing that interests Michael Mann in Ferrari are cars, specifically, old school Ferrari racing vehicles. Enzo is obsessed with racing and, it appears, that the character of Enzo Ferrari, regardless of being a real person who did exist, is an avatar for Director Michael Mann who also loves car racing and capturing the speed, the sound, and the danger of driving the best cars as fast as possible in competition with other men who may or may not have better cars, faster or better performing vehicles. Just as Enzo is obsessed with winning, Michael Mann is deeply invested in capturing that passion for car racing and channeling it into movie form.

A good example of Mann's priorities can be found in a plot about Enzo nearly bankrupting his company to support his racing team. In need of a cash flow infusion, Enzo reaches out to an American car company only to have one of his Italian rivals swoop in and save his Ferrari brand from bankruptcy in a scene that takes place in a brief phone call. Other than Enzo's personal problems, the failing of Ferrari appears to be a major source of drama in the movie and to have it resolved in a single phone call with a character we've never seen before is just not dramatically satisfying.

If you are someone who loves cars, car racing, and the Ferrari brand, this movie is for you. It's stylish and incredibly well shot. The racing scenes are spectacular and it's clear that Michael Mann took great care in crafting these scenes. He seems to have loved filming the racing scenes so much that the rest of the movie was of little interest to him. The actors do a lot of heavy lifting to prop up the personal drama but Mann appears to just want to get that over so he can lovingly film old Ferrari racing vehicles and up close looks at speeding vehicles narrowly edging past each other in a series of ever more dangerous racing scenes.

It's just not anything that interested me. I don't care about the problems of some rich fan of car racing. I don't care about his philandering or his money problems that are solved with a single phone call. I don't care how lovingly crafted the racing scenes are. Ferrari simply left me cold and disinterested. It is probably just not for me in terms of the subject and that's fine. I did think that Penelope Cruz was quite good, leaning in on a big, broad performance as a stubborn and grieving woman weighing every moment she spends with her husband to decide whether she should punch him in the face or throw him on the bed.

Laura wrestles with the question of whether she should she break Enzo financially, she has 50% stake in the company, and take everything from him, sinking herself in the process, or maintain their wealth in spite of her disdain for Enzo. Cruz's scenes opposite Adam Driver and weighing her options, outside of the racing scenes, are the only times when Ferrari comes to life. But that just wasn't enough to get me to care about car racing or the problems of the rich and glamorous in car racing. Perhaps for car enthusiasts or fans of the Ferrari brand, the movie will prove to be appealing. For me, it's an exercise in excess. It's Michael Mann wanting to play with cars on screen and getting to do so as a rich and privileged filmmaker.

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