Review 705: Ferrari

                                                                                                             Based on the biography Enzo Ferrari: The Man, the Cars, the Races, the Machine by Brock Yates; In the summer of 1957, Enzo Ferrari (Adam Driver), reeling from the death of his son Dino, the deteriorating marriage with his wife Laura (Penélope Cruz), his struggled acknowledgement of his second son Piero with his mistress Lina Lardi (Shailene Woodley) and his auto empire in crisis, the ex-racer turned entrepreneur pushes himself and his drivers to the edge as they launch into the Mille Miglia, a treacherous 1,000-mile race across Italy.

The film, drawing from a years old screenplay by the late Troy Kennedy Martin, is very interested in giving us 

The emotional core of Ferrari is this love triange between Ferrari, his mentaly unstable wife Laura and his mistress Lina. Having recently lost his first son Alfredo, there's spectre of grief that hangs over their marriage like an axe. The motor racing is a way to distract Ferrari from the demons in his personal life.

As with most of Michael Mann films, Ferrari looks fantastic, this is a handsome period peice filled with beautiful locations, colourful vintage cars (particularly in rich red). The cinematography is gorgeous giving off some intensely rich lighting making that make the frame feel like a Caravaggio painting while also capturing the spleandor and  of Itlay in the late 50s. The score by Daniel Pemberton is deeply soulful and emotional, crafting a   The racing scenes are outstanding, the use of handheld cameras helps to immerse us in the moment as if we're in the driver's seat. It makes us feel the grit, the road noise and the dust on the driver's face. The crashes feel visceral 

Driver's portrayal of the motoring entrepreneur is a nuaced one playing him as a complex, tragic figure trapped between his marriage to wife Laura and his affair with mistress Lina all the while desperately trying to keep them happy and hold onto their affections. Enzo is ireverent, he disputes authority and makes his own way

But it is also a film that, like Ridley Scott's House of Gucci, makes use of casting America actors as Italian characters, instead of Italian actors. 

Penélope Cruz is decorative and mesmirising playing Laura Ferrari. She proves to be an unstoppable force of nature throughout the film. In her first scene Enzo has tradded her for Mistress

The one weak link in the cast, however, is Shailene Woodley as Lina Lardi. While not bad, she feels out of place in  couple that with an Italian accent so dubious that Dick Van Dyke would question its veracity.

Patrick Dempsey is only featured spordically throughout the film, but makes for a very charasmatic figure in every scene that he's feautred playing racing driver Piero Taruffi

4/5.

The Anonymous Critic.