Ferrari Parent Guide

Despite success on the track, Enzo Ferrari (Adam Driver) is in dire straits. His company is on the brink of bankruptcy, his marriage is falling apart faster than he can destroy it, and he is still recovering from the death of his son Dino. His wife, Laura (Penelope Cruz) has begun to suspect that his ongoing adultery is less casual than she has been led to believe – and she’s right. Enzo has been living on and off with Lina (Shailene Woodley) and their son, Piero (Giuseppe Fesitine).

Along with his domestic disasters, Enzo is preoccupied by his business troubles. Ferrari may be competitive on the track, but without star drivers their cars struggle to keep up with Maserati. The addition of Spanish superstar driver Alfonso de Portago might turn things around on the track, but Ferrari still doesn’t sell nearly enough cars to pay for the race team – or the business itself. If he’s lucky, Enzo will finish out the year broke, divorced, and unemployed. But his race isn’t run yet…

How can a movie about such fast cars be so slow? I’m not complaining about a character-focused biopic, but the story feels directionless. We amble through the many problems of Enzo’s life, but none of them get satisfactorily resolved within the film’s runtime. If anything, they get worse, only to be tidily wrapped up in some title screens at the end of the film. There are no defined character arcs, no conclusions, no changes or moments of clarity – nothing. The characters are the same unpleasant people at the end of the film as they were at the beginning; you’re just two hours older.

There is a bright spark to the film but, unfortunately, she has limited runtime. Penelope Cruz is vibrant in an otherwise dreary slog; she’s unhinged, emotional, and reliably entertaining. She’s also one of the only people I can understand. Both Adam Driver and Shalene Woodley feign Italian accents that dip in and out of comprehensibility. Woodley is definitely the major offender in this regard, and in a few scenes the accent drops away altogether. As a rule, it’s a bad idea for movies to rely on accent work from actors who aren’t up for the job.

If general boredom were not enough to dissuade you, then I’ll warn you that this is a problematic production for family audiences. There are a fair few f-bombs (I’m sure I undercounted thanks to the mushy accent work) and a pretty constant plot thread dealing with adultery. There’s also the usual social drinking and smoking we’d associate with the setting. Only one scene of real violence comes up, but it involves a number of innocent bystanders being bloodily killed, and a man being torn in half. Realistic? Maybe. Unpleasant to watch over a meal? Definitely. Worth watching at all? Signs point to no.