Noah Baumbach, the Coen brothers, Jim Jarmusch, Martin Scorsese, Steven Soderbergh, Spike Lee, Terry Gilliam, Leos Carax, Ridley Scott – this is the ever-growing catalog of directors with whom Adam Driver has worked. And at Ferrari, Michael Mann joins this list.
Working with an author means immersing yourself in their world. Driver isn't exactly versatile as an actor, but there's something undeniably appealing about his physicality and the strange rhythm of his voice. His presence feels classic as he fits into such a wide range of films. The gap between Adam Sackler, Kylo Ren and the guy who hit the wall in Marriage Story isn't that big. (They're all meme-able?)
Thematically, Ferrari is pure Michael Mann shit: a portrait of a man trapped in his own desires. Here, Mann decodes the myth of Italian engineer Enzo Ferrari, whose aerodynamic sports cars would define a generation of high-end automotive design. But at what cost? The film asks and implores us to care, but never makes it clear exactly how leading a team of drivers makes Enzo a legacy-defining car brand.
Driver's Ferrari is a conflicted man reeling from the loss of his son, in love with his mistress (Shailene Woodley), falling out of love with his wife and business partner Laura (Penélope Cruz), and running a car manufacturing business on the brink of bankruptcy. Ferrari is in the red, which seems fitting given the company's iconic color palette.
Every deviation feels inaccurate and every detour only takes the film further in an unclear direction
A biopic often spans a lifetime, and I appreciate that Mann resisted that in Ferrari. Still, Driver feels miscast and at times confused, as his Italian accent hasn't improved since House of Gucci. (It feels like Woodley only appears in the film to make Driver's Italian accent sound convincing by comparison.) But it's less the performance itself than what the thin script demands of him. The characters' motivations feel more assumed than animated. Enzo complains that his competitors at Maserati only compete to support the business, while his goal is the opposite: sell cars to race.
I just wish this passion was more convincing. Sure, no one likes accounting, but you have to suspend your disbelief to see Enzo's shock when he hears how low sales are of the Ferrari automobiles he makes. (Why shouldn't he know already?) We never get the impression that he enjoys designing cars, racing, or winning at all. Mann's best film, the cat-and-mouse heist thriller “Heat,” is the story of two men who deeply appreciate how good the other is at his job. Is Enzo Ferrari actually a good engineer? I guess we'll see him with a blueprint a few times. Does he get along well with his drivers? Absolutely not, as an early (and strangely funny) scene shows an accident in which a driver's body flies into the air like a rag doll. Later, over wine and pasta, Enzo tries to inspire his racing drivers: it is “our deadly passion, our terrible joy.” (If this line sounds inspired, it's actually taken from Enzo Ferrari's memoir “My Terrible Joys.”)
I'd like to thank Ferrari for making it a stranger film than you'd expect from a biopic about a man who builds legendary sports cars. But every deviation feels imprecise and every detour only takes the film further in an unclear direction.
Lost in the shuffle is Cruz, who overcomes some oddly stalled scenes to deliver an intimate and inspired performance. She is angry and bitter about Enzo's decisions; Nevertheless, a warmth for her husband emerges. (Mann's history as a writer of women has its ups and downs, and I'm happy to report that this is the former.) Laura Ferrari is an unpredictable character who you have no idea how she will react from moment to moment . It's more exciting than watching a classic Ferrari on the track.
Speaking of which, even the racing sequences, of which there are only a few, seem disappointing. They are neither loud, stimulating nor muscular. The sound design feels weird. (At least this was the case at the New York Film Festival press screening I attended.) The structure of the race is confusing, and I wasn't sure how points were awarded or winners were determined.
Even Driver can't save it. In the end, your success may simply depend on how much you like Mann's organizing principle: Masculinity is… a trap. It's an old idea that has stood the test of time throughout his career, and at age 81, there's something fascinating about seeing a screen legend make the same argument. After all, obsession and ambition are his thematic focuses.
Or maybe Michael Mann just goes around in circles, slowing down as the films become less extraordinary. In the world of Ferrari, that would just be another round.
Ferrari hits theaters on December 25, 2023.