Pan and Slam

Ferrari

R 2h 4m

• Director
  • Michael Mann
• Stars
  • Adam Driver
  • Shailene Woodley
  • Giuseppe Festinese

by Jason Koenigsberg

Michael Mann’s name really fits him as his filmography over the past forty plus years demonstrates a depiction of what men behave like and what men want to watch in cinemas. From his 1981 debut Thief with James Caan as a man most may fantasize about being despite the high risks, to Collateral (2004) which turned Tom Cruise into a silver haired, cold blooded assassin, Michael Mann has specialized in directing films oozing with masculinity and sweating in testosterone more than almost any other director. His movies satisfy male fantasies in a more sophisticated manner than typical 80’s and 90’s adrenaline pumping action movies with guys like Arnold and Sly leading the way. Mann’s 1995 movie Heat, often considered his magnum opus, brought together Pacino and De Niro to share a scene for the first time ever and its only criticism is that some of the scenes with their domestic partners are the weakest moments that parallel their similar drives. Only his film adaptation of Last of the Mohicans (1992) with Daniel Day-Lewis was a lush and sweeping saga with the type of romance female audiences fell for. His newest film, Ferrari seems like the type of picture Michael Mann was born to direct. It is not a sprawling biopic of Enzo Ferrari’s life and what drove him to make the fastest state of the art cars. Instead his Ferrari is very focused on a specific time in his life, the summer of 1957 as he tries to build a car to win a race across Italy, as well as some of his personal problems with the women in his life.

Michael Mann is no stranger to directing biopics. He directed Will Smith in Ali (2001) as well as the true story of big tobacco whistleblower Jeffery Wigand with The Insider (1999). His leading man this time around, Adam Driver, is familiar with playing famous Italians in biopics, he was also Maurizio Gucci in Ridley Scott’s House of Gucci (2021). Ferrari opens up with old time black and white footage showing Enzo Ferrari’s beginnings as a race-car driver and then some text informs the audience how he started his company with his wife in 1947 post-war Italy and the movie jumps to a beautiful backdrop of the Italian countryside in 1957 and this is where the entire movie takes place. Unlike so many other biopics, Ferrari is not interested in telling Enzo Ferrari’s life from his early stages to his death. All of the action takes place in one tumultuous summer where his personal and professional lives reach a boiling point and he could lose his auto empire and his family. Ferrari shows how the loss of Enzo Ferrari’s son damaged his marriage, however Enzo Ferrari’s infidelities probably added to the problem. The majority of this movie when it is not focused on the racing scenes, it is focused on the domestic issues between Ferrari and his wife and his mistress. The performances from the three leads are all outstanding especially Penelope Cruz as the long suffering wife who has to deal with her husband and his long term relationship with a mistress and a son. The mistress is played by Shailene Woodley and she does a fine job as well.

Overall Ferrari is a refreshingly different biopic that focuses on a turning point in a mans life and not decades of accomplishments and failures. In typical Michael Mann fashion, some of the dialogue scenes drag and are not as compelling as they could be considering the immensely talented actors involved, yet others are gripping and filled with emotional intensity. The racing scenes are enthralling and filled with surprises. There is no doubt Michael Mann made the exact movie about Enzo Ferrari that he wanted to. If you want more information about the races or the automotive engineering check out Ford v. Ferrari (2019) which covers those aspects well. This is a look at a turbulent time in a mans life and how he balances professional and personal problems with all of his weaknesses and flaws exposed.