Based on a novel, Ferrari traces a phase in the life of automobile mogul Enzo Ferrari who is having to manage a sinking automobile company while dealing with his interpersonal relationships with his wife and mistress. The story here is more in the space of the latter with the protagonist facing issues in his personal life than the startup journey of the red machine. And this may well have been a reason for people to have underappreciated this drama which may have promised a ‘fast lane’ with its title but was a ‘slow’ buildup of external factors in the life of the protagonist. So instantly, I had to shed my preconceived notion about the narrative and surrender to the vision of the filmmaker. And when I did that, the screenplay standing a 130 minutes did account for a solid watch.

The drama begins with the introduction of the protagonist who is on the verge of a huge financial loss being created by his company Ferrari while also discreetly having an affair with his mistress oblivious to his wife who also owns a fair share of the stakes in the company. He couple have been mourning the loss of their son while their marriage is slowly disintegrating with each passing day. The conflict in the tale is simple of the protagonist having to balance his personal and professional life which in a way are connected, and ensure that he wriggles out of a difficult situation himself. The entire dynamics of the setting is interesting given that everything is interlinked with each other that automatically heightens the stakes in the drama.

The characterization of the protagonist is an interesting topic given the excessive discussions that we have had with respect to toxic masculinity. The protagonist is an understated individuals who holds much of his emotions to himself while only briefly evoking them to get his job done with people around him. He can be termed as an opportunist and someone who is cheating on his wife but the flip side to the argument is that there is a sense of remorse that is buried inside him amidst his ‘image’ managing skills. Also, discounting his loyalty towards both his partners, his loyalty towards his brand remains stoic and unshakable while willing to bet on a race to salvage the finances of his entire company without willing to sell-off his stake to his industry rivals or talking his wife into a situation that she doesn’t encash the cheque which would make his company bankrupt. The ability of the protagonist to stop at nothing is also reflective on his drivers, a couple of whom met with their worst fate, while another was oblivious of his. Yet, it can be safely said that his street smart attitude towards everyone in his life was directly proportional to Ferrari finding its voice again(despite everything lost along the way including people).

Having said that, my criticism for the drama is also due to its narrative heavily drifting only towards the personal life of the protagonist while the entrepreneur in me wished to explore the other side of the world too. To be fair, there was a period of intense speed and action that lead to a tragedy but I wished a little more of that throughout the narrative. Yet, from the narrative standpoint, the interpersonal and professional relationships of the protagonist did account for a solid watch despite a slightly underwhelming final act.