This is a difficult movie to rate, at least in an honest, personal way. The chosen story is not a typical Hollywood story, as partly dictated by life, although it is partly told like one, and has some typical "cinematic" appeals, primarily in the car races, of course. The main tension comes from team Ferrari trying to win against the evil Maserati Team, in order to save the company from bankruptcy. This is told very well and one is genuinely invested, although here it is still very misleading to expect a straightforward Hollywood story.
The quarrels with Enzo Ferrari's wife, played by Penélope Cruz (arguably appearing younger here than the aged-up Adam Driver), come across as rather melodramatic, though I suppose there is a similarity to what the real relationship was. The casting of Adam Driver is inspired, as it makes it more likely that the audience will root for the main character. As a non-Italien speaker, I would say his artifical accent is okay, although it is clearly not perfect. No matter. Enzo Ferrari here is a good "character", in the movie sense (and not judging in a moral or other way).
It would be far off the mark to call this a fun movie. There are echoes of war experiences (primarily WWI) over the movie, aside from the wound that the loss of their son has left. The large glasses that Ferrari nearly always wears give the movie a funereal tone, I don't know if this detail was an intentional part of it, but eventually this is how it comes across.
After reading a little bit, it appears they took some freedom with one of the drivers and main side-characters joins the Ferrari team, as a nobody who turns up out of nowhere, and this seems to serve to tell his story in a little more clichéd way. There are often senses of foreboding, but the movie is at the same time pretty good at misdirecting from them or pushing them aside. Part of this is due to making one see everything strongly from Enzo Ferrari's perspective and his goals.
There are definitely strong parts in this movie, but ultimately it is almost told in a "slice of life" way, so that there won't be some grand resolution, although it ends at a fitting point. The directing in this movie is very good, although I have some issues with how hard it is tell anyone apart in the races, like literally sometimes I didn't know who the good guys or bad guys were, simply in terms of visual clues. This is good, high-quality movie making, that feels enriching later, but don't expect to feel happy from this. I want to give this something like a 6 or 7, so I'll round it up, and it deserves it to make aware of its qualities (the craftsmanship, Adam Driver as the main character, some real impact etc).
The quarrels with Enzo Ferrari's wife, played by Penélope Cruz (arguably appearing younger here than the aged-up Adam Driver), come across as rather melodramatic, though I suppose there is a similarity to what the real relationship was. The casting of Adam Driver is inspired, as it makes it more likely that the audience will root for the main character. As a non-Italien speaker, I would say his artifical accent is okay, although it is clearly not perfect. No matter. Enzo Ferrari here is a good "character", in the movie sense (and not judging in a moral or other way).
It would be far off the mark to call this a fun movie. There are echoes of war experiences (primarily WWI) over the movie, aside from the wound that the loss of their son has left. The large glasses that Ferrari nearly always wears give the movie a funereal tone, I don't know if this detail was an intentional part of it, but eventually this is how it comes across.
After reading a little bit, it appears they took some freedom with one of the drivers and main side-characters joins the Ferrari team, as a nobody who turns up out of nowhere, and this seems to serve to tell his story in a little more clichéd way. There are often senses of foreboding, but the movie is at the same time pretty good at misdirecting from them or pushing them aside. Part of this is due to making one see everything strongly from Enzo Ferrari's perspective and his goals.
There are definitely strong parts in this movie, but ultimately it is almost told in a "slice of life" way, so that there won't be some grand resolution, although it ends at a fitting point. The directing in this movie is very good, although I have some issues with how hard it is tell anyone apart in the races, like literally sometimes I didn't know who the good guys or bad guys were, simply in terms of visual clues. This is good, high-quality movie making, that feels enriching later, but don't expect to feel happy from this. I want to give this something like a 6 or 7, so I'll round it up, and it deserves it to make aware of its qualities (the craftsmanship, Adam Driver as the main character, some real impact etc).
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