Ferrari

Adam Driver plays an important Italian figure of history in a stylish biopic called [checks notes] not House of Gucci but, instead, Ferrari.

Ok, so that’s a reductive and easy joke to make but the comparisons certainly don’t end there when comparing these two particular films.

Both are slightly self-serious, extremely stylish and interesting portrayals that should simply be better than they actually are.

Unfortunately, Ferrari doesn’t match up to House of Gucci which in itself could and should have been a five star movie.

It bears repeating, but Michael Mann absolutely nails the style here. The fashion, the sense of place and the absolutely jaw-dropping cars are all put on screen fabulously. Likewise, the racing scenes are loud, intense and thrilling and the crashes will make you gasp.

The substance to match this style though just isn’t there. An immaculate cast give their all to enhance the material: Driver is always utterly compelling and Penelope Cruz more than matches him in a scenery-chewing role as Laura Ferrari, but the decision to just focus on a single year of Enzo’s life is a strange one.

It just feels like there’s something missing, a wider context and background required to really dig into the material. Ostensibly, the premise that Ferrari need to win Italy’s legendary Mille Miglia to save the company from bankruptcy, all against the backdrop of Enzo’s son’s death and an ongoing affair, sounds like juicy material but it doesn’t feel like it in reality.

It doesn’t feel like there are many stakes here, and the script doesn’t quite deliver except for one particularly heated shouting match between Driver and Cruz.

It also just feels a little hastily cobbled together, with something lost in the edit. A couple of hurried fades to black and some strange musical decisions serve to lose the prestige of the visuals and the cast.

So a very 50/50 film then. Lots to like, and it’s certainly interesting and enjoyable, but a lot that should have been better and this has to go down as a disappointment unfortunately.

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