Currently there’s a woman suing Drive for offering up a false impression with its trailer. Given that this lawsuit will rank up there with the most asinine reasons to sue a company, the fact of the matter is that she is right. The trailers offered up a Fast and Furious clone but in reality the movie was a dark, artsy, gritty, and violent mob picture. This isn’t to say that you would want Drive to be like Fast and The Furious because it actually turned out to be a shining gem by a brilliant director with a much more intelligent story than what the trailers promised.
Drive will not be liked by people who want fast, brightly colored cars zipping through the city streets; but it will be cherished by those of you who genuinely love movies. Drive is a movie fan’s movie, it is a mixture of the Indie world of film and the mainstream popcorn thrillers, it is our Heat, our Fight Club, our – hell any movie that turned out to be a timeless classic during a time when mediocre was expected.
Ryan Gosling stars as the Driver, a mysterious stunt man with no name, no history and very little words. Driver’s story is about his meeting neighbor Irene (Carey Mulligan), her young son Benicio (Kaden Leos), and her husband Standard (Oscar Isaac). The meeting grows into a friendship which places the Driver on the bad side of a mob contract which eventually awakens an instinct in him to protect the people that he loves.
The gangsters that the Driver gets involved with had a number of familiar faces in the roles, faces such as Ron Perlman as Nino, Christina Hendricks as Blanche and Albert Brooks as Bernie. The movie is shot brilliantly, sometimes leaving us to read the silent faces of Irene and the Driver as they would stare at one another for what seemed like an eternity. I could appreciate this as it gave you time to figure out the characters rather than wearing it out with inane dialogue.
Ryan Gosling owned his role and while he had as much lines as I have fingers on my hands, it wasn’t the dialogue that made you feel him – it was just him. The character had me asking mentally the entire time “who are you?” As he was mysterious, simple, yet immensely complex. He was a kind knight who protected the innocent but he was also a cold-blooded anti-hero, able to deal death at the blink of an eye. There is nothing spared in terms of violence in Drive, as we see people get butchered and shot throughout but even when the Driver deals death you are made to understand it.
Drive is directed by Nicolas Winding Refin, a talented director who you may know from his former works in Bronson and Valhalla Rising (loved this). His style is instantly recognized once you see enough of his work and Drive touches on an old school feeling that I would compare to the grimy art house films of the past. Sure the trailers made you think that this is another movie about fast cars, hot busty babes and crime, but Drive is about gangsters, organized crime and the ultimate question of what is important?
Drive is a treat, it is shot perfectly and though the story is nowhere near original I guarantee you that you will respect the way it’s presented.
Cinephile and opinion writer, Greg Dragon has been a fan of movies since the 80's when Kung Fu theater was all the rage and Roger Moore was James Bond. As an opinion writer that has reviewed Box Office releases on a number of prominent websites, Greg is the founder and lead critic of Spicy Movie Dogs.
