Directed by: Michael Mann
Starring: Adam Driver, Penelope Cruz, Shailene Woodley, Patrick Dempsey, Gabriel Leone, Jack O' Connell, Sarah Gadon
Ferrari isn't a traditional biopic of the legendary Enzo Ferrari, who along with his wife founded the famed sports car company in post-World War II Italy. Instead, the movie takes a snapshot of a small period in which Enzo's personal and professional lives were at a crossroads with potential disaster lurking around each corner.
Yet, Ferrari never generates enough power or speed to hum on all cylinders like one of Enzo's racing machines. Despite the unnecessary Italian accent Driver employs (more on that later), he provides Ferrari with a powerful presence of a beloved Italian icon facing mounting pressures on all fronts. The movie picks up in 1957 following a brief newsreel prologue showing Ferrari in his racing days. He is followed by media and paparazzi like a famed singer or actor would. He is estranged from his wife Laura (Cruz), who is aware of his extramarital affairs, but begs him to at least be home for breakfast. Laura is unaware of the extent of Enzo's love for Lina (Woodley), with whom he shares a child Laura does not know about and whom Lina wants him to declare publicly. Enzo and Laura's five-year-old son died within the past year from muscular dystrophy, with both visiting his grave separately.
Professionally, Ferrari's company is losing money to the point he may have seek financing from competitors, which his accountant advises but Enzo will not do. He is urged to produce more cars, but Enzo balks at this. The accountant also asks Enzo to convince Laura to give up her shares in order to strengthen the company's negotiating position, which she does with conditions. In trying to reclaim the world's land speed record recently usurped by Maserati, the Ferrari driver dies in a horrible track accident. Enzo's reaction to this is cold and business-driven. He simply hires another driver for his team. Business as usual. Ferrari hopes his team can win the Millie Miglia, a 1,000 mile race across Italy, which will boost his standing and retake past glory. While the race is being run, one of his cars crashes and kills eleven spectators plus his driver. Ferrari may be charged with manslaughter if the vehicle is found to be defective. (This subplot payoff is handled in the epilogue in which he was found not guilty).
Throughout it all, Ferrari maintains calm unlike anyone I've ever seen. Because Sandler plays the role with such iciness, which may have been how the real Enzo handled his business, we never feel the mounting tension like we should. I think of Uncut Gems (2019), which was wrought with pressure you could feel in the main character's bones. Ferrari never reaches that point, and it all lacks urgency. Director Michael Mann stages the race scenes well and the movie maintains a sense of its period. The performances work, especially Cruz's as the wife who is heartbroken and angry due to her husband's affairs and the recent passing of their son. You can sense she still loves her husband in the scenes where she negotiates with him over her shares.
However, the movie itself doesn't lift off. It seems like it wants to, but never finds a way to do it. And now let's get to the accents. Aside from Cruz, who speaks with an accent anyway and can be forgiven, the actors speak in distracting Italian accents a la House of Gucci, which also starred Driver. We know the people are Italian, and there is no need to saddle them with accents. Milos Forman made Amadeus with most of the characters, many of whom were played by American actors, without accents. He felt they would detract from the material and he was right. F. Murray Abraham played an Italian, while Mozart was Austrian, yet neither was forced to regale us with an Italian and German accent. And many of the important scenes in Ferrari were shot in mostly darkness, making it difficult to see the action. I assume this is supposed to be artsy, but it mostly makes us strain our eyes.
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