Lamborghini: The Man Behind the Legend

Dour biopic of unlikable man occasionally enlivened by bits of humor.

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In many circles it’s been hip to rip on 2006’s Best Picture Oscar-winner “Crash” for some time now. (Granted, I agree that “Brokeback Mountain” probably should’ve taken home the big prize that year.) I dig “Crash” and I’ve dug other works from that film’s co-writer/producer Bobby Moresco – namely his short-lived NBC series “The Black Donnellys.” (I saw Moresco’s 2006 directorial effort “10th & Wolf” when it released on home video, but can’t recollect my take on the flick.) Moresco has returned to write and direct the biopic “Lamborghini: The Man Behind the Legend,” which will be available in select theaters and on VOD beginning Friday, Nov. 18.

“Lamborghini” initially focuses on Italian automaker Ferruccio Lamborghini as a young man (Romano Reggiani) returning from service in World War II to the family farm he has no interest in working. Lamborghini’s far more focused on building a better tractor alongside his war buddy Matteo (Matteo Leoni) and romancing Clelia Monti (Hannah van der Westhuysen). Our focus then transfers to a middle-aged Lamborghini (Frank Grillo), who’s married to Annita (Mira Sorvino) and longs to unseat Enzo Ferrari (Gabriel Byrne, who despite playing an Italian makes no effort to hide his Irish accent) as the premier maker of high-end Italian sports cars.

Despite how the film is being sold, “Lamborghini” is as much … or more … Reggiani’s movie as opposed to Grillo’s. Both men are solid in the role despite Lamborghini not being especially likable. He’s a chain-smoking, womanizing, driven man who used up whatever love he had in his youth. He’s presented as an absentee husband and father and a shoddy friend. (Moresco’s script is based upon the book “Ferruccio Lamborghini: The Official Story,” which was written by Lamborghini’s son, Tonino.)

There isn’t much auto action in the flick – the primary car sequences serve as a metaphor for the battle between Lamborghini and Ferrari. (I did admittedly dig the blue number our titular character drives.)  Moresco’s movie is much more concerned with being a character study of a flawed figure. Over 97 minutes we clearly see why within this cinematic world Lamborghini would’ve wound up alone. (In actuality, Lamborghini was married a third time to Maria Theresa Cane with whom he had a daughter, Patrizia.)

The dour proceedings are occasionally enlivened by some much needed and welcome humor. I was certainly amused when an angry Annita hurls dinner rolls at Ferruccio or when one of Lamborghini’s aides delivers a sketch of his emblematic bull mounting Ferrari’s emblematic horse to the rival automaker. Patrick Brennan (son of actress Eileen and son-in-law of Moresco) also lends levity as Bob Wallace, a Kiwi test driver, automotive engineer and mechanic. (Wallace, as played by Brennan, is such an entertaining character I probably would’ve preferred to see a movie about him.)

“Lamborghini: The Man Behind the Legend” never reaches the heights of Francis Ford Coppola’s “Tucker: The Man and His Dream” nor James Mangold’s “Ford v Ferrari.” (I suspect the Michael Mann-directed and Adam Driver-starring “Ferrari,” which releases next year will also be an improvement.) It’s not a bad movie per se – just often a bland and obvious one.