A Review

I just saw "Ferrari," and boy is it one of the biggest let downs of the award season. A glossy but overly conventional and empty biopic from the usually intense Michael Mann. This is maybe the weakest film of his whole career, or at the very least, his most disappointing.

"Ferrari" feels like it's trying to pull off an "Oppenheimer," minus the non-linear structure. It sets itself at the point where a man's vision and ambition collides with problems in his personal life, but the result is no anywhere as explosive. The drama generated between Enzo Ferrari and his wife feels superficial and never comes up with any compelling way to connect his troubled marriage with his work. The two stories work independently from each other, so all we are left with are two separate one-dimensional stories inhabiting one mediocre film. Adam Driver and Penelope Cruz are trying their hardest to elevate the movie to Oscar-worthy status, but the short scope and awkward pacing of the screenplay get in their way.

In one scene, a tragic car accident occurs at what I thought was the midpoint but a few minutes later realized is actually the ending. The movie was over right at the moment when it started to get interesting. I was quite bored through almost all of the just over 2-hour runtime, which is composed of a few decently made racing scenes connected by moments of tripe bickering. It goes nowhere unexpected and moves at a slug's pace to get there. Like the world famous cars produced by the real auto manufacturer, "Ferrari" is flashy and sharp-looking, but nowhere as quick or slick.