Ferrari (2023)

Mann turns a pivotal three-month period in Enzo Ferrari’s life into a gripping, masterful drama with the intensity and layered fascination of a 1970s film. The review singles out the thrilling yet harrowing staging of the Mille Miglia race and the authentic intertwining of business, family, and personal crises.

Mann delivers a somber, classically scaled epic focused on grief, betrayal, and the high stakes of racing and family. The film excels in its portrayal of Enzo Ferrari’s compartmentalized life and the volcanic performances of its leads.

The critic highlights the visceral thrills of the racing sequences and sound design alongside the central relationship drama, viewing the film as a compelling portrait of Enzo Ferrari at a personal and professional breaking point.

Mann's portrait of the egotistical pioneer takes a smart, fascinating approach to a complex life story haunted by grief as much as glamour. The racing sequences deliver heart-in-throat thrills and the aesthetics are faultless, though the personal life writing has some issues.

The review praises the electrifying, realistic driving and race scenes as the film’s highlight and a triumphant return for Mann, while noting the domestic and business scenes feel somewhat jumbled. Adam Driver and Penélope Cruz deliver strong performances amid the personal drama.

The review praises the kinetic car scenes and Penelope Cruz's performance but criticizes the film's lack of heat, dull protagonist, and failure to ignite after strong opening visuals.

Mann’s stately biopic is well-oiled with clean lines, strong performances and classily rendered production values, but feels unessential and lacks a certain something under the hood to really make it fly. The personal demons are handled more refined than the racing elements.

The biopic is surprisingly staid and gets bogged down in dull relationship drama that screeches to a halt. The racing sequences are thrillingly visceral and place viewers right in the cockpit, but there is not enough of the exhilarating stuff.

The critic finds the biopic handsome but bogged down by slow, talky storytelling about business and family matters, with a muted and bloodless performance from Adam Driver. Penélope Cruz stands out as Ferrari’s strident, furious wife.

The biopic is a solid vehicle but ultimately unmoved and fails to ignite despite strong performances and slick visuals. It gets bogged down in domestic drama and loses emotional investment in its characters and story.

Mann's passion project stalls and splutters, with too much repetitive focus on the unhappy marital situation and not enough on the cars or races. Driver is muted and the supporting cast is underused, making it far from a winner despite gorgeous locations.

The review highlights Mann’s focus on what drove Enzo Ferrari, blending racing, money, and personal loss, with death portrayed as arbitrary and final. Penélope Cruz delivers a brilliant performance mapping emotional scar tissue.

The review notes the film's surprising emphasis on domestic soap opera over racing action in this refined period piece, praising the production values and Mille Miglia set-piece while suggesting it may not appeal widely.

The critic finds the film strongest during the racing scenes but criticizes the excessive focus on family melodrama over the track action, noting miscasting and unconvincing elements in the domestic plot.

The film focuses on a pivotal 1957 period in Enzo Ferrari's life, balancing personal crises with high-stakes racing. It delivers thrilling race sequences and strong performances from Driver and Cruz, though some domestic scenes and accents fall short.

The film roars to life during its racing sequences but portrays domestic life as a source of torment. The director captures the obsessions of Enzo Ferrari through striking period detail and strong performances.

The critic calls the film handsomely made but ultimately empty, with Driver’s performance lacking depth beyond parental grief and the narrative treading water until the final race. The race scenes are powerful but come too late to save the drama.

Mann's film captures Enzo Ferrari as a complex, evasive figure juggling family and business crises amid tragedy. It stands out for Adam Driver's vivid performance and its blend of elegant restraint with visceral racing horror.

The critic sees Ferrari as transcending a standard biopic with its introspective look at Enzo Ferrari's grief-stricken life and passions, calling it Mann's best work since Collateral. They single out Penélope Cruz's powerhouse performance as Laura Ferrari for commanding every scene.

The film is uneven and slow to build but a triumphant return to form for Mann, with the car racing scenes the best in cinema history. Patience is rewarded for fans, and it is a treat especially for those who love fast cars or the stars.

Mann captures the high drama of racing alongside personal struggles, with strong performances from Driver and especially Cruz as the scorned wife. The film blends emotional depth and action effectively despite some disconnects between storylines.

The critic describes Ferrari as a granular study of a larger-than-life but damaged man armored against grief and personal contradictions, with Mann focusing on microscopic details and the deadly stakes of racing. They highlight strong performances by Adam Driver and Penélope Cruz alongside the film's visceral, death-tinged racing sequences.

A solid, enjoyable study of Enzo Ferrari at a low point in his business and personal life, with strong work from Driver and Cruz but underdeveloped supporting characters. It is watchable and entertaining though not among Mann's best.

Mann's return excels in its thrilling, technically masterful racing sequences and sound design, especially the climactic Mille Miglia, but the narrative often sputters due to a creaky, expositional script. It notes the shift to a more classical style and the monomaniacal focus on Enzo's obsession.

The film offers a tame, introspective portrait of Enzo Ferrari during a difficult period, hampered by an unemotional lead performance from Adam Driver and a slow narrative pace. It praises Penélope Cruz's late emotional scene but concludes the overall effort falls short in the pantheon of racing films.