Soon to turn 81, Michael Mann shows no signs of slowing down. Last year he was top of the bestseller lists with his must-read Heat prequel/sequel Heat 2, and now he's back behind the lens for his first feature since 2015's meh thriller Blackhat.
Mann's biopic of motor legend Enzo Ferrari is watchable, but it will be best remembered not for Adam Driver's performance in the lead role, but for Penélope Cruz as Ferrari's wife Laura. Talk about drive it like you stole it...
Set in 1957 as Ferrari's family life and finances spin out of his control, Mann's latest is another study of ruthless male focus and outward-facing detachment. Ferrari is grieving the death of his and Laura's son Dino; a tragedy in a marriage already buckled by personal and professional animus. Bankruptcy looms. Ferrari also has another son, Piero, with his mistress Lina Lardi (Shailene Woodley) - and the boy cannot be hidden from Laura forever. Meanwhile, arch-rivals Maserati appear to be in the ascendancy ahead of epic race the Mille Miglia.
Those hoping for fumes from start to finish here will be disappointed; the driving largely takes a backseat as most of the drama plays out in bedrooms and offices. Despite the Modena sunshine, it's a chilly enough film - curiously slow-moving in some places, a slicker Dynasty in others - with Mann and Driver failing to elicit the emotional investment needed from the viewer in the protagonist. Bluntly, when it comes to heart and soul, Ferrari trails behind Mann's 2001 Muhammad Ali biopic.
That said, if you want to see an actor who isn't in every scene make an entire film their own, then Cruz gives a masterclass here. She's magnetic and Ferrari comes alive when she's on screen. Every time she appears, you wonder what's going to happen next. It's colossal work without ever ending up in the overacting ditch. Driver pays a visit there at the start in a scene involving a gun, but the constraints of the central character ensure that he otherwise steers clear.
Mann rolls back the years at the end with the racing scenes, attacked with the verve of a director half his age. Like Cruz's work, the sequences show up the shortcomings elsewhere. Ultimately, this is a passion project that runs out of the good stuff too often for it to rank with Mann's best. He still has better in the tank - hopefully now he'll get a move on with bringing Heat 2 to cinemas.
