Not that this is two hours of Enzo lying by the pool sipping a Negroni. The opening sees him slipping silently away from one woman - his secret lover Lina (Shailene Woodley), with whom he has a son about to be confirmed (but will Enzo give him the Ferrari name?) - to return to his wife Laura (Penelope Cruz). She says hello by shooting at him.
Work isn't going much better. Partly because Laura owns half the company but their personal life is in ruins after the death of their son, mostly because Enzo is focused entirely on racing but it's selling cars that pays the bills. When a new driver comes a-knocking, Enzo is watching his current top driver flinging a car around the track in order to reclaim a speed record they lost just hours earlier. Enzo says he doesn't need a new driver; no prizes for guessing how quickly that changes.
No one event can solve all his problems, but winning the 1000 mile cross country Mille Miglia promises to steady his speed wobbles. If you know the details of the 1957 race, then you know what to expect; if you don't, Mann and scriptwriter Troy Kennedy Martin provide just enough red herrings (hang on, that driver didn't properly check in!) to keep you in suspense.
Or maybe just dread. The constant spectre of death hangs over the racers' camaraderie, which Enzo clearly still craves even as he remains apart. The scene before the race begins where the drivers write farewell letters to their loved ones like WWI fighter pilots is moving stuff.
The family dramas are a little more melodramatic (one major plot is Laura slowly figuring out the existence of Lina, then remorselessly tracking her down), but an at times astonishingly raw performance from Cruz more than makes up for it. And while Woodley pales a little by comparison, that feels intentional: in a life that seems constantly on the verge of flying apart, she's what keeps things grounded - for the brief moments Enzo's with her.
Driver plays Enzo as a steely (literally in his grey suits) figure of determination. But there's no fraying around the edges. The control required comes off as second nature. He's got a handle on things, whether selling cars to kings or trading banter at the barbers; now he's pushing them to the limit like he once did on the track.
Mann's film is full of speed and velocity - the car scenes are white-knuckle visceral - but Ferrari is on a different track. Even when standing still, he's constantly driving himself forward; each victory only sets the stage for the next race.
- Anthony Morris
No comments:
Post a Comment