With outstanding performances from Adam Driver and Penelope Cruz, Michael Mann's Ferrari delivers an intimate and complex biopic that leaves a lasting impression of its subject, Enzo Ferrari.
Michael Mann makes a directorial breakthrough, moving away from his trademark realistic high-def crime dramas and turning his meticulous eye into recreating a tiny slice of Ferrari's life, transcending the typical Hollywood biopic reenactment.
The story covers Enzo Ferrari's life in the summer of 1957, dividing between his professional and private life.
At home, Enzo and his business partner and estranged wife Laura are grieving the loss of their son, Dino, who passed away a year ago. Meanwhile, Enzo's mistress Lina pressures Enzo to give their illegitimate son Piero the Ferrari name.
The Ferrari car manufacturing company is financially suffering as he's prepping his Formula 1 racing team for the Mille Miglia, an open road, endurance-based thousand-mile race. To keep his company running, Enzo is forced to merge with Fiat and must convince Laura to sign over her half of the company shares...
Admittedly, I walked into Ferrari with low expectations. Michael Mann previously went down a rabbit hole of making crime films with high-definition cameras, peaking at Collateral but lost his touch with Public Enemies and Blackhat. Now, I happily stand corrected.
Michael Mann's direction is in top form, masterfully walking the line between documentary realism and drama, allowing the audience to follow Ferrari through perceivably the most dramatic day of his life.
It's an immersive watch. The scenes are written with screenplay economy but are filmed with a realistic lingering time, following Adam Driver walking and driving through town, which gives everything a tangible weight.
Mann captures the essence of Enzo Ferrari, what the man was like, how he lived his life, and perhaps what it felt like to stand next to him.
Adam Driver inhabits the part with a real-life complexity and is convincingly Italian, showing the visionary engineer and entrepreneur, a husband locked between his wife and his mistress, and a father grieving the loss of his son.
The easy cliche approach would have been to play Enzo Ferrari as an autistic, as a shorthand to display his engineering mindset and lay out the highlights sequentially.
Penelope Cruz is electric as Laura, giving the film weight and stakes as the film's centerpiece. Cruz and Driver play a brilliant tennis match in their scenes, creating a strikingly raw dynamic that feels like they've been fighting for years.
The race sequences are nail-bitingly intense, viscerally showing the speed and danger of racing firsthand in the 1950's.
Ferrari is a great film, perhaps even amongst Michael Mann's best. It has the misfortune of being too niche and released in a year where its subject matter is not in the zeitgeist. In another time or place, the film could have been nominated for acting, writing, and directing in this year's awards season.
Michael Mann makes a directorial breakthrough, moving away from his trademark realistic high-def crime dramas and turning his meticulous eye into recreating a tiny slice of Ferrari's life, transcending the typical Hollywood biopic reenactment.
The story covers Enzo Ferrari's life in the summer of 1957, dividing between his professional and private life.
At home, Enzo and his business partner and estranged wife Laura are grieving the loss of their son, Dino, who passed away a year ago. Meanwhile, Enzo's mistress Lina pressures Enzo to give their illegitimate son Piero the Ferrari name.
The Ferrari car manufacturing company is financially suffering as he's prepping his Formula 1 racing team for the Mille Miglia, an open road, endurance-based thousand-mile race. To keep his company running, Enzo is forced to merge with Fiat and must convince Laura to sign over her half of the company shares...
Admittedly, I walked into Ferrari with low expectations. Michael Mann previously went down a rabbit hole of making crime films with high-definition cameras, peaking at Collateral but lost his touch with Public Enemies and Blackhat. Now, I happily stand corrected.
Michael Mann's direction is in top form, masterfully walking the line between documentary realism and drama, allowing the audience to follow Ferrari through perceivably the most dramatic day of his life.
It's an immersive watch. The scenes are written with screenplay economy but are filmed with a realistic lingering time, following Adam Driver walking and driving through town, which gives everything a tangible weight.
Mann captures the essence of Enzo Ferrari, what the man was like, how he lived his life, and perhaps what it felt like to stand next to him.
Adam Driver inhabits the part with a real-life complexity and is convincingly Italian, showing the visionary engineer and entrepreneur, a husband locked between his wife and his mistress, and a father grieving the loss of his son.
The easy cliche approach would have been to play Enzo Ferrari as an autistic, as a shorthand to display his engineering mindset and lay out the highlights sequentially.
Penelope Cruz is electric as Laura, giving the film weight and stakes as the film's centerpiece. Cruz and Driver play a brilliant tennis match in their scenes, creating a strikingly raw dynamic that feels like they've been fighting for years.
The race sequences are nail-bitingly intense, viscerally showing the speed and danger of racing firsthand in the 1950's.
Ferrari is a great film, perhaps even amongst Michael Mann's best. It has the misfortune of being too niche and released in a year where its subject matter is not in the zeitgeist. In another time or place, the film could have been nominated for acting, writing, and directing in this year's awards season.