The American Spectator’s founder and editor-in-chief, R. Emmett Tyrrell, Jr., suggested that I review for these pages Michael Mann’s latest film, Ferrari. Given that the film is based on Brock Yates’ excellent 1991 biography Enzo Ferrari: The Man, the Cars, the Races, the Machine, and that I am also a fan of the director’s other work, including the original Heat (1995) and The Insider (1999), my expectations were high. Mann, who has spent the last 30 years trying to bring the automotive industry icon’s life to the silver screen, is passionate about his subject matter, and that passion is contagious. We care about Enzo Ferrari because we briefly experience him through Mann’s eyes, but that momentary glimpse isn’t powerful enough to hold our interest for a two-hour and 10-minute film. Despite Ferrari’s much-trumpeted release, moviegoers have been slow to embrace it, as is evidenced by its disappointing box office results. Garnering less than $37 million to date against production expenses of $95 million, Ferrari is already being considered a flop.
Ferrari will likely gain some more steam once it starts streaming en masse, but it still cannot escape the inherent flaws in its narrative. The story, which takes place over a few months in 1957, a pivotal year in Ferrari’s 90-year life, suffers from an identity crisis. Mann has stated repeatedly in interviews that the film is a biopic, not a racing film. As he told The Hollywood Reporter:
This is not a racing movie. This is really a movie behind racing, behind Ferrari. Three very torrid months in the life of Ferrari, his wife, Laura, both in grief over the death of their son, Dino, a year earlier. Then also, a second family that he has that she doesn’t know about, with Lina Lardi and a 12-year-old boy Piero, who is now Piero Ferrari. And all of which comes to the surface at a moment in time in which the company is going bankrupt.
While Mann’s objective sounds good as a pitch concept, it fails to translate properly to the screen despite the excellent acting of the film’s principals: Adam Driver as Ferrari; Penélope Cruz as his wife, Laura; and Shailene Woodley as his mistress, Lina Lardi. Patrick Dempsey also turns in a good performance as the race driver Piero Taruffi. Although Driver does a marvelous job of walking around in Ferrari’s skin, we as the audience do not acquire enough of an understanding of how Ferrari evolved into the man we meet in 1957. The story would have benefitted from including more details about his racing career, particularly the realization that he would always only be second tier and how that epiphany propelled him to focus on automobile manufacturing and distribution, along with the cultivating of a stable of Ferrari-branded race car drivers. The movie should have also dedicated more time to visually depicting the tragedies in Ferrari’s life, such as the loss of his brother Dino and of his son, who was also named Dino. Although Cruz delivers an Oscar-worthy performance, the juxtaposition of Laura’s grief for the loss of her son with the introduction of Ferrari’s illegitimate son Piero would have been more striking if the story included a more in-depth portrayal of Dino the son.
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Although Ferrari is purportedly not a “racing film,” the Mille Miglia scene is one of its most engrossing moments for the vivid depiction of the race, which was, of course, punctuated by the tragic death of driver Alfonso de Portago (Gabriel Leone) and his navigator Edmund Nelson (Erik Haugen), along with 10 spectators, of which five w ere children. There is a poignant moment when Ferrari calls Taruffi, the winner of the race, and congratulates him on his victory by saying that the horrific tragedy should not eclipse his accomplishment.
It is almost impossible to watch Ferrari without drawing comparisons to James Mangold’s Ford v Ferrari, a 2019 box office blockbuster that earned $225 million. While the movie’s success can be in part attributed to the star power of Matt Damon and Christian Bale, its effective storytelling, excellent acting, and nail-biting racing scenes carried the day. Car designer Carroll Shelby (Damon) and driver Ken Miles (Bale) teaming up against Ford’s internal bureaucracy unveils the company’s inner battles, with the conflict coming to a head at the face-off between Ford and Ferrari at the 1966 Le Mans race.
Critically, the persona of Ferrari himself in Ford v Ferrari is emblematically significant but has limited screen time. Although Mann served as an executive producer on Ford v Ferrari, he wanted to create a film that focused on Ferrari the man. And while he eventually achieved his goal of bringing a Ferrari biopic to the silver screen, the result would have been stronger if more of his protagonist’s internal drivers and demons were more vividly depicted.
Despite its aforementioned weaknesses, Ferrari is still worth watching for its excellent acting and haunting cinematography. Moreover, it is also an opportunity to witness Mann’s cinematic realization of his 30-year fascination with the man behind the legend that is Enzo Ferrari.
