'Ferrari' hopes to drive non-car lovers into theaters

LOS ANGELES: The cast of director Michael Mann’s “Ferrari” is keen to point out to audiences that the film is not just about cars and racing.

Penelope Cruz, who plays Laura Ferrari, said that even if someone like her is not interested in cars, the film has so many other layers that focus on family and relationships.

“I really appreciate the beauty of Ferrari, I really appreciate it, but I don’t like speed,” she said.

“Ferrari” gears up for its U.S. premiere on Dec. 25. Along with Cruz, it stars "Marriage Story" actor Adam Driver, who plays racer and company founder Enzo Ferrari and Shailene Woodley as his mistress Lina Lardi. Patrick Dempsey plays Ferrari racer Piero Taruffi.

Set in Italy in 1957, the film, distributed by Neon, follows Enzo Ferrari, as his car business is failing despite its well-known brand.

To gain more prowess for his business, he enters the Mille Miglia, the grueling 1,000 mile race across Italy.

His personal life is also in chaos, with his wife Laura, who holds half the company assets, discovering his mistress and their son, Piero.

Mann believes “Ferrari” captures conflicts that reflect real-life people versus tensions that are made up for a movie and must be resolved.

He also wanted to achieve a realistic recreation of 1957 Italy. Fortunately, he did not have to modify the movie set very much for accuracy.

"Modena is completely unchanged, and when you see the Ferrari house, that's the real Ferrari house, when you're in the family mausoleum, that's the actual Ferrari mausoleum, when you're seeing Enzo in the chair in the barbershop, that's the chair that Enzo actually sat in. The barber shaving is the son of Antonio, who was the real barber,” he said.

The frozen-in-time environment was also very helpful to the actors.

"When you know that that's the place, then you don't have to worry about having to imagine what it's like. It's actually there so it makes it easier," said Driver.