Enzo Ferrari (Adam Driver) and his wife, Laura (Penelope Cruz), struggle to keep their Ferrari manufacturing company afloat as it nears bankruptcy. He tries to boost the sales of his business by having his drivers in compete a 1,000-mile race called Mille Miglia, but he also has to deal with the consequences of his wife finding out that he has an illegitimate son, Piero, with another lover, Lina Lardi (Shailene Woodley).

      Based on the book Enzo Ferrari: The Man, the Cars, the Races by Brock Yates, the screenplay by Troy Kennedy Martin is a snapshot of Enzo Ferrari during the summer of 1957. To call it a biopic would be inaccurate because it doesn't chart Ferrari's life from childhood to adulthood. Much like the recent Golda, Ferrari is a character study of someone who's under a lot of pressure to save their career and reputation. Enzo comes across as a flawed husband who has no shame in cheating on his wife, Laura, and keeping the secret of his illegitimate son from her until she discovers that herself. Laura is a more compelling character than Enzo. Fortunately, the screenplay focuses its attention on her enough to understand the emotional pain that she's going through. She's a strong woman who doesn't put up with being mistreated, and it says a lot about her that she handles the finances of Ferrari's business. He's not very reliable, though, for many reasons including the fact that he didn't sign a future dated check that he gives to Laura. The weaker moments of the film are the scenes where Enzo spends time with Lina and his son. Those scenes feel contrived and not as engrossing as the rest of the film. When Ferrari gets to the action sequences during the Mille Miglia race, it turns into a thrilling and exhilarating spectacle without being exhausting or tedious. Screenwriter Troy Kennedy Martin finds the Spectacle within the film's humanity off the race tracks, though, as it engages the audience emotionally by focusing on the evolving dynamics of the relationship between Enzo and Laura.

      Adam Driver gives a terrific performance as Enzo Ferrari. He's very cast and brings plenty of charisma and emotional depth to his role. The highlight, though, is Penelope Cruz who's radiant with her many emotionally resonating scenes. Shailene Woodley, unfortunately, feels somewhat miscast here, and her Italian accent isn't very convincing. Sarah Gadon, Patrick Dempsy and Jack O'Connell make the most out of their supporting roles, but they're wasted here. Moreover, there's some choppy editing, i.e. between the scene where Laura goes to the bank and the scene that follows it. The cut between the two scenes is too abrupt. Keep in mind that one of the racing scenes shows an accident with almost as much gore that you'd expect to find in a horror film. The gore leaves nothing to the imagination and ends up just shocking and disgusting the audience which makes it feel out of place. That said, the cinematography, music score and sound design are superb, just as you would expect from a Michael Mann film. Although, to be fair, Ferrari doesn't make use of its visual style to create a palpable atmosphere like in Mann's past films, i.e. Heat and The Insider. At a running time of 2 hours and 10 minutes, Ferrari is captivating, heartfelt and exhilarating with stellar performances by Adam Driver and Penelope Cruz.