By Samir Mathur
I feel like the film trailer gives you more than it should, so the above video is for a song that's used prominently in the film and is very pretty.
DRIVE (Rated R) opens nationwide today. Click here for Orlando showtimes.
There are a lot of contradictions within Nicolas Winding Refn’s new film ‘Drive’, yet they all exist in harmony with each other, and don’t get in its way. For instance, it’s an action film where there’s very little action. Its nameless lead character, played by Ryan Gosling, is incredibly emotive and powerful, even though there are probably more words in this review than he speaks in the entire film. It tackles familiar tropes (heist gone wrong, lone-wolf taking on gang bosses) yet feels very fresh and exciting. It features an intentionally 80s sounding score but still comes off as modern and cutting edge. And, despite being very heavily stylized and relatively lacking in substance, it’s terrific. Like Michael Mann’s ‘Collateral’, it’s a film that makes driving around the streets of Los Angeles look like the greatest thrill in the world.
There’s not a lot I can say about the film that won’t ruin at least some of the surprise, but it’s okay to know that Driver works at a garage, does stunts for movies, and is available for hire as a getaway driver. He’ll give you five minutes of his skill – no more, no less, no questions asked. He meets a woman, and things go downhill from there. Be warned, though, that the film’s final act features some very – very – gruesome scenes of violence, which sort of come out of nowhere. For instance, somebody gets their head blown off by a shotgun, and it’s shown in surprisingly close detail. And later, there's a scene in an elevator that will knock you right out.
It should come as no surprise that the performances are uniformly great here. Ryan Gosling is remarkable, playing enigmatic yet dynamic and thoughtful, with a strong, if inconsistent, moral compass. Him, and Albert Brooks as a mob boss (!), steal the show, which in the presence of heavyweights like Bryan Cranston, Christina Hendricks, Carey Mulligan and Ron Perlman, is no small achievement.
I don’t think I’ve seen a film this lean, this compact, and this effective. The dialogue is sparse, but just enough to guide you along. The style in which it’s filmed is similarly unfussy, allowing slow tracking shots and long scenes which really make the viewer feel immersed into the film’s world. The astonishing first scene shows Driver at work, picking up a couple of masked burglars, driving them to a warehouse, letting them out, starting the stopwatch… and then waiting. That’s all I’ll say. It’s an amazing scene, and it’s all before the opening credits have even rolled. You’ll want to check it out, and the rest of the film doesn’t disappoint either.
Contributing writer
Staff page | Twitter | TumblrDRIVE (Rated R) opens nationwide today. Click here for Orlando showtimes.
There are a lot of contradictions within Nicolas Winding Refn’s new film ‘Drive’, yet they all exist in harmony with each other, and don’t get in its way. For instance, it’s an action film where there’s very little action. Its nameless lead character, played by Ryan Gosling, is incredibly emotive and powerful, even though there are probably more words in this review than he speaks in the entire film. It tackles familiar tropes (heist gone wrong, lone-wolf taking on gang bosses) yet feels very fresh and exciting. It features an intentionally 80s sounding score but still comes off as modern and cutting edge. And, despite being very heavily stylized and relatively lacking in substance, it’s terrific. Like Michael Mann’s ‘Collateral’, it’s a film that makes driving around the streets of Los Angeles look like the greatest thrill in the world.
There’s not a lot I can say about the film that won’t ruin at least some of the surprise, but it’s okay to know that Driver works at a garage, does stunts for movies, and is available for hire as a getaway driver. He’ll give you five minutes of his skill – no more, no less, no questions asked. He meets a woman, and things go downhill from there. Be warned, though, that the film’s final act features some very – very – gruesome scenes of violence, which sort of come out of nowhere. For instance, somebody gets their head blown off by a shotgun, and it’s shown in surprisingly close detail. And later, there's a scene in an elevator that will knock you right out.
It should come as no surprise that the performances are uniformly great here. Ryan Gosling is remarkable, playing enigmatic yet dynamic and thoughtful, with a strong, if inconsistent, moral compass. Him, and Albert Brooks as a mob boss (!), steal the show, which in the presence of heavyweights like Bryan Cranston, Christina Hendricks, Carey Mulligan and Ron Perlman, is no small achievement.
I don’t think I’ve seen a film this lean, this compact, and this effective. The dialogue is sparse, but just enough to guide you along. The style in which it’s filmed is similarly unfussy, allowing slow tracking shots and long scenes which really make the viewer feel immersed into the film’s world. The astonishing first scene shows Driver at work, picking up a couple of masked burglars, driving them to a warehouse, letting them out, starting the stopwatch… and then waiting. That’s all I’ll say. It’s an amazing scene, and it’s all before the opening credits have even rolled. You’ll want to check it out, and the rest of the film doesn’t disappoint either.