Michael Mann’s Ferrari plays almost like an epic. With an over 2-hour runtime, the film details the time in Enzo Ferrari’s life leading up to the crash at the Mille Miglia that would take the lives civilians watching the race. Depicting a tragic time in the racing community, the film is split between Ferrari’s personal life and struggles, and the upheaval in the company leading up to the crash itself.
Where Ferrari lacks in comparison to other racing movies of the same caliber is that it doesn’t really warm us to Ferrari himself. Even if we’re not meant to care deeply about him or the Ferrari family, it isn’t even a movie that shines a light on them enough them for us to even want to know more about the Ferrari name outside of the racing elements of the film. The minute we are in the races or the cars are being driven, Ferrari comes to life.
The dramatic elements between Enzo Ferrari (Adam Driver) and Laura Ferrari (Penelope Cruz) feels almost like a broken record of two people struggling in a marriage they should have long ago given up on. Mixed with Enzo’s relationship with Lina Lardi (Shailene Woodley) that is told through brief moments and hidden secrets from Laura, the drama in Enzo’s life is not nearly as interesting as what is happening in Ferrari at the time, or in the world of racing in the ‘50s as a whole. So every time we go back into Ferrari’s personal problems, it feels like it drags the movie down.
Still, there are things in Ferrari that work incredibly well to make Michael Mann’s return to movies worth the wait (and worth the venture to the movie theater).
The races are thrilling and horrifying, as they should be.
While races are exciting, the crashes are terrifying, and Mann captures that fear as the car flies through the air with the driver suspended in such a way that you feel yourself holding your breath. There are a few moments that are absolutely horrifying. Towards the beginning of the film, there is a moment when a driver is flung out of the car (seatbelts were seen as more dangerous at the time). Then, there is the Mille Miglia crash when Alfonso de Portago (Gabriel Leone) was almost done with a race and ended up crashing right before the end.
It is gruesome, horrifying, and leaves you shocked in the final moments when the Ferrari team is celebrating as they don’t know what happened to de Portago. The film doesn’t end there, going back to the drama between Enzo and the two women in his life, and it is almost as if the film is divided between wanting to focus on what happened in Enzo’s personal life and the tragedy of the Mille Miglia. Where the movie works is when we get to see Ferrari and the company that he built, but I do understand the exploration of his relationships, especially in regards to his son Piero.
Still, the movie feels split between what works working incredibly well and what’s less than stellar feeling very much like it’s dragging for a bit too long.
(featured image: Neon)
