Rent Ferrari on Amazon Video (paid link) // Buy the book (paid link)
Written by: Troy Kennedy Martin, Brock Yates (book)
Directed by: Michael Mann
Starring:Adam Driver, Penélope Cruz, Shailene Woodley, Sarah Gadon, Gabriel Leone, Jack O'Connell, Patrick Dempsey
Rated: R
Watch the trailer
Plot
During the summer of 1957 Enzo Ferrari's auto empire was 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.
Verdict
The main issue is that this is a movie about an unlikable guy and his problems. This doesn't have enough racing and cars for my preferences. All of the races we do get are lackluster, punctuated by horrific crashes. The Ferrari name is synonymous with luxury race cars, but this movie focuses on the sordid past. It feels disconnected as Enzo Ferrari never shows any emotion. Is this about a daunting race or the skeletons in Enzo's closet? With either, there's nothing interesting about it.
Skip it.
Review
We quickly see that Enzo Ferrari's (Adam Driver) life is a bit of a mess. In the first scene he leaves the house of whom we soon learn is his mistress. He's heckled by a pedestrian because the Ferarri car didn't perform well at the last race. His wife is upset with his frequent absences.
Enzo is focused on the next race. We see him on a test track watching a driver. The crash is an absolute shock. Also surprising is Enzo's complete lack of reaction. This first scene of the race car could have set the mood for the cars. Test track footage can only be so exciting with one car, but it's also our underwhelming introduction to this marquee company. The movie completely misses on making it memorable. We don't even get an answer as to why this car is different, faster, better.
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| Adam Driver, Penélope Cruz play Enzo, Laura Ferrari |
Enzo is so stoic throughout the movie that it's frustrating. His business is running out of money, he lost a driver, and he's mourning the death of a child. You expect a reaction, anything. I also want this to focus on the cars. What makes the Ferrari brand special? Is winning the Mille Miglia race the turning point? Enzo hopes that winning that race will increase demand and save the company. It's great advertising to sell more cars in attempt to become profitable, but will it work? This is after he's written his wife a check for her shares that he can't afford. He tells her not to cash the check until he makes a deal to keep the company afloat.
This feels like background for Ford v Ferrari. I wish this movie did a better job of explaining how Ferrari went from the brink of bankruptcy to becoming so dominant just a few years later. That movie made the cars exciting. This movie never does as it's focus is on Enzo. The problem with that is how uninteresting he is. He doesn't react to anything. Because of that, there's a disconnect with the man and what's happening. I didn't feel any empathy for him as he seems completely self-centered. He doesn't care about his drivers, only whether they can win races to save his failing company.
Mille Miglia had the potential to be fun. The name translates to one thousand miles, and it takes place on public roads. Unfortunately this movie's contribution to create an exciting race is to throw in a crazy crash. In every race there is a huge crash. We finally get racing footage I wanted, but it should have been so much more exciting. The last crash we see shows a lot. Enzo bares the brunt of public opinion.
If any movie should get a title card at the end, I'd presume this is the one. If you were unfamiliar with Ferrari, it would be shocking the company became as successful as it did. We get no indication of future success. For a movie about Enzo, I don't feel like I know him. This movie gives us some history, but it could have been so much more.
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