Ferrari

After many years, Michael Mann has fulfilled his dream and he does so with honour. But I can't help feeling that if he had taken the time to make it in his golden era in the 1990s, the result would have been much more daring. After all, this film about the fastest cars of its time doesn't exactly pull off the double whammy, surprisingly, especially on the track. As far as the Italian household of Ferrari is concerned, it's two gears better there thanks to the diabolical Penélope Cruz. Outside of the domestic tussle, however, on a comparable budget to the 4-year-old Ford vs Ferrari, Ferrari alone delivers considerably less value in terms of scale, suspense and action (the outlined rivalry with Maserati is just worthy of this bracket). Yes, the Millie Miglia was a completely different motorsport event from Le Mans, but the drama is always created by the racers themselves anyway, andin Mann's rendition they are bland. A great shame given the otherwise historically turbulent development of this race. (30/10/2023)

Michael Mann tells the story of one short period in the life of the owner of the famous car company. And unfortunately he tells a story that is not very attractive or engaging. In addition, Adam Driver plays a distant, cold professional who keeps his emotions in check, resulting in a rather dull film. This changes in the last part, when the racing starts and Mann shows that he's still good at directing action, even if he can come across as somewhat old-fashioned. Overall, though, Ferrari is a pretty uninteresting film about people struggling with a personal crisis and a once-in-a-lifetime loss, only that one of them happened to be a car designer. (17/01/2024)

Great film, exactly the kind of biopic I like - they pick out one important chapter in the life of a particular person, and when well written and filmed, they manage to say everything that matters. From that perspective, though, Ferrari is a bit more cunning. It may be about Enzo or Piero, it may be about both at the same time, but it’s most likely about the name Ferrari and its bearers and wearers. Michael Mann has it down to a tee, from the opening black and white scene with the eye-popping rear projection, to the quiet and loud dialogue and the amazing theatre scene, to the racing sequences with the camera damn low to the road, and the crash scenes (the ugly visual effects in the trailer is thankfully not so ugly  in the cinema). Still, it's not the roaring engines that propel Ferrari forward, but the brilliant performances of Adam Driver, who is once again someone else entirely and can steal any scene, the vivacious Penélope Cruz and her perfect counterpart Shailene Woodley. Daniel Pemberton's stamping music and the beautiful cinematography complete the experience and enhance it. Once again, a true big screen film. (06/01/2024)

The omission of Penélope Cruz in the Oscar nominations is completely incomprehensible to me. Adam Driver is fine here, he doesn't try to overact with "Italian-style" expressionism, even in tense scenes his acting is nicely decent, and I even believed that grey hairpiece on his head, but the main star for me is Penélope. Not the cars, about which I know nothing, not the races, but this woman, tormented by emotions and doubts, fights an internal battle throughout the film, only to capitulate at the end, because the family business is above all. And related to this is Michael Mann's intention, he doesn’t try to approach Enzo Ferrari's life with some boring biographical description and ticking off the years, but to bring the marital discord of a prominent family to life in a short period of time. And the races are just a nice addition, though the production is nicely polished and the cinematography nicely dramatic. I'd have perhaps only two criticisms, I don’t think it’s necessary in a non-English speaking setting to adapt the English of the actors into some sort of accented pidgin, as happens here, and I would have preferred not to see those CGI cars flying through the air in such a nicely old-fashioned film. (24/03/2024)

The opposite of Le Mans in many ways. In terms of time narrative, it is a small, intimate racing film, a study of the tormented genius of Enzo Ferrari from the surprising perspective of a family drama, not a flashy driving symphony of speedsters. It's not that there's no driving, and it even has a nicely retro tone with an extreme dose of realism and physicality (except for those awful digital flying cars), but Enzo's living room, bedroom and office are the primary focus. Michael Mann has made a dream come true, in a largely un-Hollywood, non-mainstream way. It's going to be hard to make a lot of money with this film, but the production values are solid. It's not the genre we're used to with Mann, and some of his traditional trademarks are not and can't be here, but he hasn't disgraced himself. (04/03/2024)