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2026 Honda Ridgeline ReviewFerrari Returns to the Big Screen
First, there was Ford v. Ferrari. Now, the Ferrari brand returns to the big screen with the triumphs and tribulations of the 1957 Mille Miglia!
Enzo Ferrari Brought to the Big Screen
Done watching Christmas Vacation, Home Alone, and other classic Christmas movies? Well, there’s a new movie that will take you out of the winter wonderland and give you a glimpse into the real-life history of the automotive industry. That movie is Ferrari. A biography of Enzo Ferrari, the Italian car manufacturer that brought us the likes of the Ferrari 308, the Ferrari F40, and the Ferrari LaFerrari, the movie Ferrari stars Adam Driver as Enzo Ferrari himself.
This isn’t the first movie about Ferrari that has been made (you probably remember Ford vs Ferrari), and it likely won’t be the last, but is this cinematic take an accurate portrayal of Ferrari’s life? What part of Ferrari’s life does the movie focus on? Also, is this going to be a movie that features people sitting around tables talking to each other, or are there going to be some cool car scenes as well? Read just a bit further to find out.
The Cast
Though Adam Driver doesn’t really resemble the actual Ferrari (OK, he doesn’t really resemble him at all), he has earned himself Academy Award nominations as Best Supporting Actor and Best Actor for previous work on two different movies. Driver has received nominations for the Primetime Emmy Awards, the Golden Globes, the Tony Awards, and the Screen Actors Guild Awards, too. He hasn’t actually won any of those awards, but maybe this role as one of the automotive industry’s most famous names can get him over the finish line.
Rounding out the cast are other Hollywood heavyweights and award winners like Penelope Cruz, Shailene Woodley, and Patrick Dempsey. It’s probably not that surprising that Dempsey is involved. Given his history with racing, I’m sure Dempsey was eager to join a movie about the man who started Ferrari. British racecar driver Ben Collins (and sometimes The Stig on Top Gear) is also in this movie. As a real-life British racecar driver, Collins plays Stirling Moss, a former Formula One racecar driver.
The movie is directed by Michael Mann, whose other works include Ali, Heat, The Aviator, and the movie version of Miami Vice. He took home an Academy Award in the 1990s and has nabbed several nominations for his work as a director since then. No matter how good the acting or the story ends up being, it should be a visually well-made movie thanks to Mann’s involvement.
The Plot
Speaking of the story, this particular Enzo Ferrari movie is set in the summer of 1957. It was a time of stress and trouble in Ferrari’s life. His company was in crisis, on the verge of bankruptcy, his oldest son had just died the year before, and he’s trying to break a land speed record. He’s trying to prepare his team and driver Alfonso de Portago for the Mille Miglia, a 1,000-mile race across Italy. The dangerous real-life race had been taking place since 1927, but 1957 was the last year it was held after two fatal wrecks, one of them involving Portago. More focused on the race than his own company, a 50-something Ferrari is being pulled in several different directions.
Of course, there is some family drama involved as well. Ferrari was married to Laura Domenica Garello until she died in 1978. During their marriage, however, Ferrari had a son, Piero, with a woman named Lina Lardi. Divorce wasn’t legal in Italy at the time, so Ferrari and Garello remained married until she passed away in 1978. Since the movie is set in the summer of 1957, Piero would have been around the age of 12 in the movie. Piero and Lina are both in the movie, so viewers will get a glimpse into that aspect of Ferrari’s life as well.
The Reviews
How well does Ferrari balance the race preparation, a struggling automotive business, and the drama behind the man? Well, Brian Tallerico, a movie critic with Roger Ebert’s website, gave Ferrari three and a half stars out of a possible four stars. He described Enzo Ferrari as a man who, “… is never satisfied, and deeply aware that he’s a split second from disaster.” Ebert mentioned Italian accents that were only so-so but commended the film work of cinematographer Erik Messerschmidt and the editing by Pietro Scalia. That’s a positive, especially in a movie with racing scenes.
The Washington Post wasn’t as favorable, saying that, “No one’s behind the wheel of this vehicle,” citing the movie focusing on the drama behind the man instead of the vehicles, despite some fun car-racing scenes. The San Francisco Chronicle also criticized the plot, but pointed out that, “… the racing scenes are good enough to make Ferrari into a break-even proposition.” Vanity Fair describes the scenes like this: “Cars do go zoom though, toward triumph and, on more than one occasion, hideous calamity.”
Rolling Stone praises Penelope Cruz’s performance as Laura Domenica Garello (even noting some Oscar buzz for her) and details the racing aspects of the movie as, “sleek … red coupes zipping around hairpin turns like Maverick in his F-18. Their engines roar, their bodies sculpted to perfection.” All of that will even impress the Prius faithful, the reviewer says.
Even with the behind-the-scenes drama and imperfect Italian accents, Ferrari should take you on a roller coaster of emotions, especially when it comes to the Mille Miglia. Whether it’s shots and scenes of pristine cars cruising the open road in the developing days of motorsport endurance races or the unfortunate aftermath when things don’t work out. If you’re a fan of rallying, especially races from the 1950s, this should probably be on your radar.
The Cars
Racer Piero Taruffi drove a Ferrari 315 S in the 1957 Mille Miglia and Portago was behind the wheel of a Ferrari 1957 335 S. They’re both featured in the trailer, so we know both of those cars get some screen time. Presumably, we’ll also see some of the vehicles Ferrari himself owned at the time, even if it’s just a scene-setting shot. There’s the scene where Ferrari has his team trying to set a land-speed record, so that’s another Ferrari to watch out for.
It’s not just Ferrari vehicles that you’ll see, though. A 1956 Maserati 350S was also in the trailer. The actual 1957 Mille Miglia included cars from Porsche, Alfa Romeo, BMW, FIAT, and Austin-Healey. It’s possible some of them may show up. Most of those vehicles didn’t place too high in the race and it is a movie about Ferrari, so it’s unlikely the competitors would get too much focus, but if you have a keen eye and quick pausing ability, it’s possible you’ll see some of those automakers, too.
