Ferrari: Film review

I was looking forward to seeing Ferrari as it combines many of my interests, beautiful cars, Italian countryside and an against the odds story of a man trying to save his company.

The film is well constructed and nicely acted by the main stars, Adam Driver as Enzo Ferrari, Penélope Cruz as Ferrari’s wife Laura, and Shailene Woodley as Lina Lardi, his mistress and the mother of his son and successor, Piero. This is a quality cast directed by a top director Michael Mann.

The main thrust of the film is the struggle of Enzo and his wife after the loss of their only son Dino. With the added complication of a mistress with a son who everyone knew about except his wife. The film gives some insight to Enzo’s cold relationship with his drivers and his passion for racing. He was never interested in making customer cars, their only value was to raise funds for racing.

If you went to see the film expecting exquisite shots of Ferrari’s racing through the Italian countryside then you will be disappointed. Those scenes are in the film but not nearly enough to satisfy the historic motorsport fan. In my humble opinion the film could have exploited the racing imagery much more generously and included some of the other great marques and drivers in the race.

The value of this film is that it is, in many ways a prequel to Ford versus Ferrari. It explains the need to sell the company and offers a possible explanation of why he entered into negotiations with Ford. 

Overall I enjoyed the film and have no hesitation encouraging you to go and see it. But I left the cinema wanting more, more engine noise, more beautiful cars and more Italy.