NEON is usually good for a few prestige dramas that make waves during the awards season, and this year is no different. With films such as Anatomy of a Fall, Eileen, and The Royal Hotel looking like potential contenders, the biggest gun in the studio’s arsenal is undoubtedly Ferrari, Michael Mann’s passion project starring Adam Driver.
Driver stars as former racer turned auto entrepreneur Enzo Ferrari, as he navigates a crumbling company, a turbulent marriage, and championship aspirations in 1957.
The film also stars Penélope Cruz, Shailene Woodley, Sarah Gadon, and Gabriel Leone. Jack O’Connell and Patrick Dempsey. Buzz was politely positive out of Venice, but hardly what one would call rapturous.
Here’s the synopsis: It is the summer of 1957. Behind the spectacle of Formula 1, ex-racer Enzo Ferrari is in crisis. Bankruptcy threatens the factory he and his wife, Laura built from nothing ten years earlier. Their volatile marriage has been battered by the loss of their son, Dino a year earlier. Ferrari struggles to acknowledge his son Piero with Lina Lardi. Meanwhile, his drivers’ passion to win pushes them to the edge as they launch into the treacherous 1,000-mile race across Italy, the Mille Miglia.
Similar to my thoughts on Ridley Scott’s Napoleon, the more I see of Ferrari the less interested I am in it. I’m still gathering my thoughts on this, but it’s like both directors are trying to make relevant old stories that are past their expiration date. On the flip side, there’s Martin Scorsese, who feels more relevant than ever with Killers of the Flower Moon because it’s a story nobody has seen told before.
Anyway, I hope to be proven wrong and that Ferrari turns out to be the fast-paced, blistering drama that a Ferrari movie should be. We’ll find out when it opens on December 25th.