Ferrari (2023)

Set in 1957 Italy, the motor racing entrepreneur Enzo Ferrari (Adam Driver) finds his manufacturing company in poor shape. Battling problems on the home front with his estranged wife (Penelope Cruz) only adds to his problems. He risks everything on winning an auto race called the Mille Miglia, which will restore prestige and financial success to the Ferrari company and name. Based on the non fictional book ENZO FERRARI: THE MAN, THE CARS, THE RACES, THE MACHINE by Brock Yates and directed by Michael Mann (LAST OF THE MOHICANS). The auto racing portions of the film didn't interest me much. What I found compelling was the domestic tension between Ferrari and his estranged wife (Penelope Cruz), who have a facade of a marriage while he supports his mistress (Shailene Woodley) and his son (Giuseppe Festinese). Cruz is sensational here, she's a force of nature and one can't help but be on her side when she's paired with the clinical and cold Ferrari as played by Driver. There's a scene where an out of control racing car crashes into a group of bystanders that should be devastating but the sequence is so obviously CGI that it doesn't have the impact it should have. With Gabriel Leone, Patrick Dempsey, Jack O'Connell, Sarah Gadon and Michele Savoia.