Drive
Writer: Hossein Amini
Director: Nicolas Winding Refn
Starring: Ryan Gosling, Carey Mulligan, Albert Brooks, Ron Pearlman, Oscar Isaac and Bryan Cranston
Director: Nicolas Winding Refn
Starring: Ryan Gosling, Carey Mulligan, Albert Brooks, Ron Pearlman, Oscar Isaac and Bryan Cranston
Not many films could live up to 9 months of anticipation and being hailed as the best of the year’s film offerings by numerous trusted magazines and critics...yet Drive absolutely does. Starring Ryan Gosling (Who gives his most subtle and best performance to date) as an unnamed driver, Drive focuses on a man who spends his days performing car stunts for Hollywood and his nights, offering his services as a getaway driver for criminals. His minimal, quiet, orderly life is thrown off balance when he strikes a relationship with a woman (Played by Carey Mulligan) and her son, as he offers to help the returning father in a job to clear off debts he amassed in prison. As expected, not everything goes according to plan and ultra violent revenge ensues.
Drive is the best Quentin Tarantino film that Quentin Tarantino never made. It is a stylish directorial tour de force that ought to make Winding Refn, one of the most sought after directors in Hollywood. Through some superb cinematography, Refn captures L.A. in a way that makes you want to be cruising its streets and Refn provides what is arguably, the year’s finest visual film, out of nothing more than urban landscapes...take that The Tree of Life. Drive is undoubtedly style over substance and in those cases if the style does not wash the whole film falls apart, thankfully Refn keeps you absolutely riveted and unlike Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows, the artistic flourishes which would be jarring in other films never comes off as such. Instead it all falls natural within the universe of the film, augmenting the story and the experience.
The film’s editing is also fantastic, the film moves along at a brisk pace and I cannot get into the mindset of anybody who finds this film boring or slow. While there may not be as many car chases in the film as mainstream audiences may have expected and demanded, the ones that are in the film are such finely crafted, riveting pieces of filmmaking and editing, they ought to be studied and dissected by anybody who wishes to put a car chase on screen in the future. The film’s soundtrack is easily one of the year’s, if not the year’s finest. The music is part of the experience, take this soundtrack out and you take away part of the movies soul.Like Scorsese and Tarantino, Refn marries music to images in a way that makes them seen inseparable from one another.
Drive’s soundtrack is the only one this year that I have bought off Itunes (I am listening to it as I type this review). Cliff Martinez delivers an original score that does what many argue film scores should, it never stands out, hogging the attention away from those in front of and pointing the camera but instead provides them with a subliminally superb basis, that is consistently working for rather than against the film. The use of previously recorded music is also spot on, with “A Real Hero” now a song that will be forever tied to Drive for anybody who has seen it. While the screenplay is an element of this film which is frequently ignored in the film’s praise for obvious reasons (The style seems to be the film’s substance) the dialogue is in fact incredibly real and the film’s structure very clear and well constructed.
In this film Ryan Gosling gives a performance that should and will go down in movie history. One generation has James Dean and Rebel Without a Cause, another will have Ryan Gosling and Drive. With his scorpion jacket and tooth pick, Ryan Gosling oozes cool in a role that genuinely says so much by saying so little. His performance may be too subtle and restrained for some but the flickers of emotion and anger that Ryan Gosling is able to convey through his eyes are sensational. Just like Gary Oldman in Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy it is a performance that will likely miss an Oscar nomination due to its subtlety but one that is so much more than it seems.
This review makes the film seem a bit artsy and pretentious for what its story is and it is important to note that Drive is not an “art” film like say, The Tree of Life. Drive is a violent, revenge/crime movie that like the films of Tarantino has artistic flourishes and sensibilities. Refn does not kick your teeth in with his direction and handling of the story, making you shut up and listen to all the underlying themes and character dynamics. If you want to go searching for something more in Drive, it is there through the performances and direction. If however you just want to enjoy it on the surface as an incredibly gripping, satisfying, exciting and bloody crime movie with a lot of cool kills and tunes then you will not be disappointed.
There are many scenes in this film, which I just love and can’t wait to experience again. The opening scene in which we are introduced to the Driver and his skills is incredibly gripping and well executed, with the song “Tick of the Clock” ratcheting up the tension and excitement. It is one of the finest introductions to a movie this year, sucking you into the world of the film and the driver. The scene where the driver spends a day with the mother and son as “A Real Hero” plays in the background could of come off as so wrong and cheesy in other hands but here Refn makes it work. The scene is charming and one of the few moments of lightness in a dark film, it is also one of the few moments in which the driver is one of us, showing his emotions and connecting to others.
The romance between the Driver and Irene is so well handled. I love it because like the romance in Super 8 or Wall-e, it is all done silently. Their romance builds through glances and smiles, not through overt passion or comedic situations like in movies that claim to be romances. Their romance is only passionately realized once in the film, it is a moment, which many have argued to be fantastical and is followed by one of the film’s most shocking displays of violence. The elevator scene as it has been called, is one that shows both the love and rage bubbling underneath the driver’s cool exterior. It is a minute of absolutely electric cinema, with an opening that would please Hitchcock and an ending that would please Tarantino or Gaspar Noe (Who Refn looked at for inspiration when filming that head smashing piece of violence)
The violence in this film has put many people off for two reasons. One, people were not expecting it and two its graphic nature. As I was ready for the violence it was not as disconcerting for me and the over the top graphic nature of it, is similar to what you would find in a Tarantino film. It is over the top and not to be taken seriously, for me personally the violence never felt really or gritty enough to truly shock me. Yes it is disturbing and not for the squeamish but seasoned viewers of this kind of film will not be upset by it and while others state that it takes you out of the film, I believe it fully works within the context of the film and is instead a realization of the anger that the driver conceals.
Drive is a film with surprising heart, subtlety and less surprising violence and style. It is a film that all film fans owe it to themselves to see and in a cinema (Audience response to the violence and the film in general is part of the fun). Ryan Gosling gives what deserves to be a star making, perhaps even idol making performance, while Refn gives the film intoxicating style yet never in a distracting way. Honestly, I have no flaws with this film and while the story could have been deeper, the one the film chooses to tell is told expertly. The driver is a blank canvas who we can project any back-story onto, he represents the vulnerability and rage of man that is frequently concealed under a professional disguise. It is a film I cannot wait to see again and will be reliving in my head as I listen to the soundtrack. As the credits started to roll, I could have sat there and watched it again, getting on the train, I wanted to grab a camera and capture my city the way Refn captures L.A. Drive is a film which makes me want to spend more time in the cinema watching it and make my own Drive-esque film. It is the only film this year other than Super 8 which captures the enthusiasm I have for cinema and that it can cause.
The Driver is a man of few words and I in discussing him and the film he inhabits have produced what is perhaps the longest review I have ever written. That just demonstrates the enthusiasm this film has given me and I could continue to write about other scenes and performances. I better stop now however and hope that the film can prove to be this exciting and riveting as time goes on. As it currently stands however no film in 2011 has made feel as excited walking out of a cinema as Drive.
Drive is the best Quentin Tarantino film that Quentin Tarantino never made. It is a stylish directorial tour de force that ought to make Winding Refn, one of the most sought after directors in Hollywood. Through some superb cinematography, Refn captures L.A. in a way that makes you want to be cruising its streets and Refn provides what is arguably, the year’s finest visual film, out of nothing more than urban landscapes...take that The Tree of Life. Drive is undoubtedly style over substance and in those cases if the style does not wash the whole film falls apart, thankfully Refn keeps you absolutely riveted and unlike Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows, the artistic flourishes which would be jarring in other films never comes off as such. Instead it all falls natural within the universe of the film, augmenting the story and the experience.
The film’s editing is also fantastic, the film moves along at a brisk pace and I cannot get into the mindset of anybody who finds this film boring or slow. While there may not be as many car chases in the film as mainstream audiences may have expected and demanded, the ones that are in the film are such finely crafted, riveting pieces of filmmaking and editing, they ought to be studied and dissected by anybody who wishes to put a car chase on screen in the future. The film’s soundtrack is easily one of the year’s, if not the year’s finest. The music is part of the experience, take this soundtrack out and you take away part of the movies soul.Like Scorsese and Tarantino, Refn marries music to images in a way that makes them seen inseparable from one another.
Drive’s soundtrack is the only one this year that I have bought off Itunes (I am listening to it as I type this review). Cliff Martinez delivers an original score that does what many argue film scores should, it never stands out, hogging the attention away from those in front of and pointing the camera but instead provides them with a subliminally superb basis, that is consistently working for rather than against the film. The use of previously recorded music is also spot on, with “A Real Hero” now a song that will be forever tied to Drive for anybody who has seen it. While the screenplay is an element of this film which is frequently ignored in the film’s praise for obvious reasons (The style seems to be the film’s substance) the dialogue is in fact incredibly real and the film’s structure very clear and well constructed.
In this film Ryan Gosling gives a performance that should and will go down in movie history. One generation has James Dean and Rebel Without a Cause, another will have Ryan Gosling and Drive. With his scorpion jacket and tooth pick, Ryan Gosling oozes cool in a role that genuinely says so much by saying so little. His performance may be too subtle and restrained for some but the flickers of emotion and anger that Ryan Gosling is able to convey through his eyes are sensational. Just like Gary Oldman in Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy it is a performance that will likely miss an Oscar nomination due to its subtlety but one that is so much more than it seems.
This review makes the film seem a bit artsy and pretentious for what its story is and it is important to note that Drive is not an “art” film like say, The Tree of Life. Drive is a violent, revenge/crime movie that like the films of Tarantino has artistic flourishes and sensibilities. Refn does not kick your teeth in with his direction and handling of the story, making you shut up and listen to all the underlying themes and character dynamics. If you want to go searching for something more in Drive, it is there through the performances and direction. If however you just want to enjoy it on the surface as an incredibly gripping, satisfying, exciting and bloody crime movie with a lot of cool kills and tunes then you will not be disappointed.
There are many scenes in this film, which I just love and can’t wait to experience again. The opening scene in which we are introduced to the Driver and his skills is incredibly gripping and well executed, with the song “Tick of the Clock” ratcheting up the tension and excitement. It is one of the finest introductions to a movie this year, sucking you into the world of the film and the driver. The scene where the driver spends a day with the mother and son as “A Real Hero” plays in the background could of come off as so wrong and cheesy in other hands but here Refn makes it work. The scene is charming and one of the few moments of lightness in a dark film, it is also one of the few moments in which the driver is one of us, showing his emotions and connecting to others.
The romance between the Driver and Irene is so well handled. I love it because like the romance in Super 8 or Wall-e, it is all done silently. Their romance builds through glances and smiles, not through overt passion or comedic situations like in movies that claim to be romances. Their romance is only passionately realized once in the film, it is a moment, which many have argued to be fantastical and is followed by one of the film’s most shocking displays of violence. The elevator scene as it has been called, is one that shows both the love and rage bubbling underneath the driver’s cool exterior. It is a minute of absolutely electric cinema, with an opening that would please Hitchcock and an ending that would please Tarantino or Gaspar Noe (Who Refn looked at for inspiration when filming that head smashing piece of violence)
The violence in this film has put many people off for two reasons. One, people were not expecting it and two its graphic nature. As I was ready for the violence it was not as disconcerting for me and the over the top graphic nature of it, is similar to what you would find in a Tarantino film. It is over the top and not to be taken seriously, for me personally the violence never felt really or gritty enough to truly shock me. Yes it is disturbing and not for the squeamish but seasoned viewers of this kind of film will not be upset by it and while others state that it takes you out of the film, I believe it fully works within the context of the film and is instead a realization of the anger that the driver conceals.
Drive is a film with surprising heart, subtlety and less surprising violence and style. It is a film that all film fans owe it to themselves to see and in a cinema (Audience response to the violence and the film in general is part of the fun). Ryan Gosling gives what deserves to be a star making, perhaps even idol making performance, while Refn gives the film intoxicating style yet never in a distracting way. Honestly, I have no flaws with this film and while the story could have been deeper, the one the film chooses to tell is told expertly. The driver is a blank canvas who we can project any back-story onto, he represents the vulnerability and rage of man that is frequently concealed under a professional disguise. It is a film I cannot wait to see again and will be reliving in my head as I listen to the soundtrack. As the credits started to roll, I could have sat there and watched it again, getting on the train, I wanted to grab a camera and capture my city the way Refn captures L.A. Drive is a film which makes me want to spend more time in the cinema watching it and make my own Drive-esque film. It is the only film this year other than Super 8 which captures the enthusiasm I have for cinema and that it can cause.
The Driver is a man of few words and I in discussing him and the film he inhabits have produced what is perhaps the longest review I have ever written. That just demonstrates the enthusiasm this film has given me and I could continue to write about other scenes and performances. I better stop now however and hope that the film can prove to be this exciting and riveting as time goes on. As it currently stands however no film in 2011 has made feel as excited walking out of a cinema as Drive.
Summary:
Top to bottom, a brilliant piece of filmmaking.
Rating: 9/10
By Movie Parliament Prime Minister,
Michael Dalton
Disagree with this review? Give us your thoughts in the Your Say section. Read Minister for Foreign Affairs Arnaud Trouve's superb Drive analysis here
Rating: 9/10
By Movie Parliament Prime Minister,
Michael Dalton
Disagree with this review? Give us your thoughts in the Your Say section. Read Minister for Foreign Affairs Arnaud Trouve's superb Drive analysis here
