Adam Driver slammed by both critics and cinema-goers for his ‘absolutely awful Italian accent’ in new film Ferrari after viewers claimed movie sent them to sleep
Adam Driver has been criticized for his 'absolutely terrible Italian accent' in his new film Ferrari.
Despite receiving a seven-minute, 30-second standing ovation at the Venice Film Festival in September, the actor's film did not go over well with critics and viewers alike, who questioned the American actor's European tone .
Adam, 39, takes on the titular racing car icon in Michael Mann's biopic of Enzo Ferrari, the carmaker's Italian founder.
Screen star Adam practiced donning an Italian accent before playing Maurizio Gucci in the 2021 film House of Gucci, when he was also criticized for the unconvincing way he spoke.
But it seems he still has a way to go when it comes to impressing some film fans, with one person writing on Twitter after seeing the film: '#ferrari is a disappointment. I had no expectations going into this film, but I was still disappointed. The film follows the life of Enzo Ferrari, played by Adam Driver, who has an absolutely terrible Italian accent. The only saving grace of this movie is the driving.”
Adam Driver has been criticized for his 'absolutely awful Italian accent' in his new film Ferrari (Adam pictured this month)
Despite receiving a seven-minute, 30-second standing ovation at the Venice Film Festival in September, the actor's film did not go down well with critics and viewers alike (Adam seen as Enzo Ferrari in the film)
Someone else wrote, “Adam Driver with an Italian accent sounds so funny I can't take him seriously,” while another moviegoer wrote, “I want whoever approved Adam Driver and Shailene Woodley's Italian accent to be fired quickly '
Another amused viewer wrote: 'Adam Driver's Italian accent in the Ferrari movie is hilarious.'
While someone else wrote: 'It's really funny that some of our greatest living directors look at Adam Driver and say, “I'm going to cast you as a guy with a cartoonish Italian accent.” I think he's a bit like this generation's Al Pacino, who was always cast as Cuban in the 1980s.'
And someone else joked: 'It would be funny if every director who worked with Adam Driver insisted for no reason that he use an Italian accent in all his roles.'
Someone else wrote: 'It's extremely funny that they have Adam Driver using an Italian accent again,' while another viewer commented: 'Adam Driver is good in the movie, although he doesn't do a good job of using a bad Italian accent either .'
Film critics also took no notice of Adam's attempt at an Italian accent John Bleasdale of BFI writing: 'The driver is too young to play Ferrari and the hair and belly are as unconvincing as that Italian accent he only got away with in Ridley Scott's House of Gucci because we all thought it was a joke.'
In the meantime, Maureen Lee Lenker of Entertainment Weekly was also critical of other members of the cast, writing: “The dialect work is highly regarded there, with House of Gucci being one of the most egregious films in recent memory, with the vast majority of the cast slipping in and out of their Italian language . accents or, worse, sounding like they taught themselves by listening to Walt Disney's Pinocchio (1940).
'One of the worst offenders is Patrick Dempsey as driver Piero Taruffi, whose casting is at least a nice Easter egg given Dempsey's own connections to the motor racing world.
It seems he still has a ways to go when it comes to impressing some movie fans, with many criticizing his accent on social media
“The only person who sounds believably Italian is Penelope Cruz as Ferrari's wife Laura, and that's because it's a slight variation on her normal speaking voice.”
Elsewhere, fans had more to say about what they thought of Adam's new film, with some cheering: “I caught myself snoring.”
X, formerly known as Twitter, allowed viewers to share their thoughts on what they thought of the highly anticipated biopic.
One wrote: 'I was expecting something similar to Ford vs Ferrari. Ferrari's personal life was discussed more than the actual racing cars or their development. Mostly shots of driving technique, landscape and narrow winding roads.
'Patrick Dempsey's role was small and really added nothing to the plot. I even caught myself snoring once.”
Another wrote: 'It doesn't make sense that movies about Napoleon, Leonard Bernstein and Enzo Ferrari came out this year and instead of focusing on all the cool stuff they made it about marriage.'
Adam's new film Ferrari has been slammed by fans after it hit cinemas on Boxing Day – with some claiming the film put them to sleep
Despite receiving a seven-minute, 30-second standing ovation at the Venice Film Festival in September, the 39-year-old actor was not a hit with critics (Adam depicted as Enzo Ferrari in the film)
Adam stars in Ferrari, which explores three months in the life of Enzo Ferrari, the car company's founder. He has money problems, mourns his deceased son and has a child with his mistress – which is discovered by his wife.
After a nearly empty red carpet premiere due to the SAG-AFTRA strikes, Adam and Michael sat down to watch the film as audiences went wild for the fall biopic.
An emotional Adam choked back tears during the rapturous applause and was brought to his feet by Michael.
Earlier in the day, the Hollywood star showed his support for notable actors as he called out streaming services Netflix and Amazon for not being “willing to support people in the industry.”
Adam was quick to praise the independent studio for their role in negotiations with SAG-AFTRA when he approached the larger production companies.
Speaking at the festival, he began: “I'm very happy to be here to support this film, and the condensed schedule we had to shoot it and the efforts of all the great actors who worked on it and the crew. '
Adam (pictured) takes on the titular racing car icon in Michael Mann's (pictured) biopic of Enzo Ferrari, the carmaker's Italian founder
But fans have had their say on what they think of his new film, with some cheering: 'I caught myself snoring'
Adam takes on the titular racing car icon in Michael Mann's biopic of Italian automaker founder Enzo Ferrari
After a nearly empty red carpet premiere due to the SAG-AFTRA strikes, Adam and director Michael sat down to watch the film.
Adam continued, “But I'm also very proud to be here to be a visual representation of a film that is not part of the AMPTP and to promote the SAG leadership directive, which is an effective tactic, which is the interim -agreement.
“The other purpose, of course, is to say, how is it that a smaller distribution company like Neon and STX International can meet the dream demands of what SAG is asking for – these are pre-negotiations – the dream version of SAG's wish list, but a big companies like Netflix and Amazon can't do that?
“And every time SAG people start supporting a movie that meets the terms of the interim agreement, it just becomes clearer that these people are willing to support the people they work with and not the others.
“If you understand the interim agreement, for all these reasons it's a no-brainer why you would want to support your union, and that's why I'm here: to stand in solidarity with them by showing up and further proving the point that it really is about the people you make it with.'