For those expecting an exciting racing movie highlighting the extreme passion that the prancing horse instills in those fans of the Italian brand, you will have to look elsewhere. This is a character study that attempts to look behind the scenes of one of the world’s great enigmas. To say that Enzo Ferrari was inscrutable is very much an understatement.
The film concentrates on one of the low moments of companies history, 1957. Enzo (Adam Driver) has run the company to the verge of insolvency due to excess spending on the race team. The sad death of his son Dino the year before has had dire consequences on his marriage to Laura (Penélope Cruz) as did his affair with Lina Lardi (Shailene Woodley).
Driver deaths within his team were an all too common occurrence during this timeframe and Enzo’s detachment from the fate of his drivers is only given a single line reason. This misses an important component of the man’s physiological make up and goes someway to solidifying the questions you have about the film’s direction
Driver looks the part of Il Commendatore but it’s odd seeing him without his customary flowing locks. There are so many creative choices that taken have hindered the proceedings and let us not even mention the appallingly bad CGI. There are many fascinating stories that feature the main man Ferrari at the core, it’s unfortunate they chose to concentrate on this one so tightly.
Rob Hudson
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