FERRARI (2023) - Movie Review

Director: Michael Mann
Starring: Adam Driver, Penélope Cruz, Shailene Woodley, Sarah Gadon, Gabriel Leone, Jack O'Connell, Patrick Dempsey
Genre: Biography, Sport, Drama, History
Writer: Troy Kennedy Martin
Runtime: 130 min
Rated: R for some violent content/graphic images, sexual content and language
Buy This Movie: Blu-ray (Amazon), DVD (Amazon), Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV

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Synopsis:

It is the summer of 1957 and ex-racer Enzo Ferrari (Driver) is in crisis, facing bankruptcy and a volatile marriage. Meanwhile, his drivers’ passion to win pushes them to the edge, as they launch into Italy's most treacherous race, the Mille Miglia. Also features Penélope Cruz, Shailene Woodley, and Patrick Dempsey.

Review:

Michael Mann's passion project "Ferrari" has been in the making since the early 2000s with actors like Christian Bale and Hugh Jackman attached to star at various points during pre-production. The film's co-writer Troy Kennedy Martin died in 2009, while Mann struggled to find appropriate financing for the movie, refusing an initial offering of $40 million, because it wouldn't have been enough to fulfil his vision. In 2022, Mann started filming with a budget of $95 million, with Mann and stars Adam Driver and Penelope Cruz lowering their salaries for the film. However, "Ferrari" bombed at the box-office, grossing only $43 million worldwide.

You could say that in the end, Ford won the battle of the racing biopcs, as the 2019 film "Ford v Ferrari" was a hit, grossing $225 million globally against a $97 million budget, and won 2 Oscars (Film Editing, Sound Editing), while also being nominated or Best Picture. "Ferrari" also came out empty handed during the awards season, failing to secure nominations for any major awards.

The movie isn't a chronicle of Enzo Ferrari's life, instead focusing on the summer of 1957, a time of crisis for Enzo, both personally following the death of his son only one year prior, and professionally with the future of his empire in peril. The only hope of salvation for his company was for Ferrari to win the dangerous Mille Miglia, a 1,000 mile race across Italy. The script is based on the 1991 biography "Enzo Ferrari: The Man, the Cars, the Races, the Machine" by American journalist, TV commentator, TV reporter, screenwriter, and author Brock Yates.

Nobody can accuse Mann of not being passionate about this project, since he's been fighting to make it happen for the last 20 years, but curiously, very little of that passion can be seen on screen. While Driver as Ferrari and Cruz as his wife Laura do the best job they can with their characters, they can't seem to breathe much life into a biopic that feels too distant from its subjects and devoid of any dramatic weight. Mann curiously fails to give us any insight into Enzo Ferrari as a human being, and instead sticks to a sort of bland enumeration of historical facts, while the man himself is a hard character to warm up to. Cruz manages to steal the show with a powerhouse performance that channels Sophia Loren and gives the film some emotional pull.

The Mille Miglia is the film's spectacular central set piece, a well shot and edited race filled with tense and exhilarating moments that provide a much needed jolt of energy, although some of the CGI effects are a bit distracting. Even so, it pales in comparison to "Ford v Ferrari", because it lacks creativity and it's enveloped in dull drama that is far too focused on Ferrari's love life. However, I will give Mann credit for doing a good job depicting what a dance with death racing really is.

"Ferrari" is nothing more than standard fare, a mechanical depiction of an iconic personality that lacks depth and authentic emotion. It doesn't rank among Mann's worst films, but it's definitely middle of the road.

SCORE: 6.5/10