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‘Ferrari’ review: A few loose parts, but Mann’s latest movie does race across the finish line beautifully
When you hear ‘Ferrari,’ you think of slick, fierce cars, high-speed races and meticulous craftsmanship. You certainly find those aspects in director Michael Mann’s (The Insider) latest movie about the man himself, Enzo “Commendatore” Ferrari. On top of that, Ferrari also unfolds as an linear (minus a few flashbacks) melodrama and provides us with the necessary human emotions. Mann’s first cinematic endeavour in a the near-decade might have a few loose parts, but cinematographer Erik Messerschmidt and a powerful Penélope Cruz ensure Ferrari doesn’t crash.
While the movie opens with what everyone expected — Ferrari (Adam Driver) behind the wheel of his race car — it quickly becomes much more personal. To make it even more intimate, Mann filmed this movie in Modena, where Ferrari lived and built his car factory. Enzo and his wife Laura (Cruz), who’s also the company’s chief financial officer, are still mourning the loss of Dino, their youngest son who died of muscular dystrophy the year prior. The emotional toll of this tragic event is extremely high — even more so because Laura partly blames Enzo for Dino’s death — and becomes even higher when Laura finds out that her husband has another son, Piero, with his mistress Lina Lardi (Shailene Woodley).