Ferrari

Ferrari maybe a name associated with speed, but Michael Mann's biopic of its namesake, Enzo Ferrari, took a long time to get to the screen. He first considered it around 2000 but it took until this past Christmas for it to get released. During this time, its screenwriter, Troy Kennedy Martin - who adapted Brock Yates's biography of the man - died in 2009. Was it worth the wait?

In 1957, Enzo (Adam Driver) is at a crossroads. He and his wife, Lara (Penelope Cruz), lost their only son, Dino, the previous year; meanwhile, he and his mistress, Lina (Shailene Woodley) raise their son, Piero (Giuseppe Festinese) in relative obscurity. He and Lara own his namesake company evenly, which is on the verge of bankruptcy. Their fortunes might improve if the company wins the prestigious Mille Miglia race. His fortunes might stall if Lara finds out about his other family, which she does. What will she do with the $500,000 dollars she wants from him?

It all starts with a prologue chronicling Enzo's career change from racer to automaker. His racing highlights either impressively insert Driver into vintage newsreels or are just convincing facsimiles. Enzo's formal introduction has him race home from Lina's house to avoid Lara's wrath. By race, I really mean race, as editor Pietro Scalia puts together a sequence so break-neck that you'd think he'll crash. But he doesn't. His mad dash doesn't work as she shoots the wall behind him while his mother, Adalgisa (Daniela Piperno), casually explains what's going on to an associate. What a way to start a movie! 

Its racing scenes are exciting, yes, but they can get shockingly gruesome. An early test drive goes disastrously wrong when driver Eugenio Castellotti (Marino Franchitti) and his car are sent flying by a high kerb. He lands on the road, and it smashes into a wall. You'd think the worse is over, but no, for the Mille Miglia is capped off by another crash with utterly disastrous consequences for the crowd. The visual effects department really pulled no punches to show how brutal racing can get. It thus wouldn't surprise you once you subsequently find out that this Mille Miglia was the last one. 

It may surprise you to realize who the star is. If not for Driver's voice, which isn't the worst Italian accent I've heard, then you wouldn't recognize him as Enzo. The Oscar-shortlisted makeup team’s work is just that good. As for Enzo, “Il Commendatore” isn’t an easy man to like with his cold businessman persona and colder relationship with Lara. He doesn’t even bat an eye when Castellotti’s fatal accident happens. He does get some humanizing moments with his other family and in private, though. Whether or not you can stand his demeanor can help make later lulls in the story a bit more bearable. 

What else is there? Cruz's is much more compelling as Lara; in addition to the aforementioned first fight with Enzo, her way of fending off the paparazzi is certainly memorable. Patrick Dempsey is surprisingly less recognizable as Enzo's ace driver, Piero Taruffi. Franchitti is quite likable as Castellotti, as well as Gabriel Leone as Castellotti's similarly ill-fated successor, Alfonso de Portago. On the technical side, the ill-fated test drive is a strong showcase for the also shortlisted sound designers. Its succession of stopwatches timing the drives is as nifty as Daniel Pemberton's score. Meanwhile, cinematographer Erik Messerschmidt shows us great Italian vistas and perfectly delirious effects. There's quite a bit to like besides its protagonist.

Ferrari is a bit of a slow movie that sometimes feels longer than 130-minutes. I assure you, though, that its approach to auto racing makes its 130-minutes worth it. It's not doing that great in the box-office, so see it soon if you want to see it on the big screen at all. As for me, I got to prepare for my next few reviews as movies pile up in theaters and streaming. Hopefully, there will be a lot before the month is done.