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Are you fan of 70's car themed action films? 80's John Hughes' teeny bobs? Or how about violent 90's neo noir thrillers? If you said yes to any one of those questions then do yourself a kindness and please watch Nicolas Winding Refn's Drive.
While the general plot outline may sound frustratingly familiar, do NOT be fooled, this is not Gone In 60' Seconds or a Fast & Furious close, this is pretty muched established early on in the film where ultra pink opening titles take place over beautiful tracking shots of the L.A. night time skyline whilst a tense techno beat pulsates throughout. Subsequent shots within the scene show neo lights bouncing off Ryan Gosling's handsome mug. This is neo noir framing at it's finest. This is the world of Drive.
Set in contemporary L.A., this is the story of the nameless driver (Gosling) moonlighting by day as a stuntman/mechanic and by night as a suave getaway driver for wrong uns looking to make a bit of cash. This type of lifestyle has been going on for more than half a decade for Mr Driver, but then cute young mother Irene catches his gaze (a suitably vulnerbale Carey Mulligan) and, as you can imagine, he bonds with her and her son. Without giving to much away, her estranged husband comes back into their lives, and thats when Drive reaches for the 2nd gear.
Again, the plotting is very typical and it's fair to say it's cliched, but Refn doesn't do cliched. He takes the familiar and turns it on it's head, which is exactly what he does with all of the aspects of what is potentially his best film to date. The framing of the warm, earlier scenes between Driver and Irene are inspired. There is a surprising amount of attention to detail in even the most mundane moments, and Refn's electro, 80's music cues are inspired. Most of romance between The Gosling and Mulligan is conveyed in refreshingly subtle ways. Sweet smiles and gazes that hold on longer than they normally would help warm you to the characters, even if Mulligan is a bit underused afterwards.
But when Drive hits the higher gears, that's when you get a feel for the parts that made Refn excited about making this picture. When the **** goes down, the tension rarely lets up. There are homages to Mann in the ways that Refn cranks up the tension, with moments of surprising and gory violence that gives the film it's edge.
But it's all done very tastefully (if that's possible) and one excruciating beating is juxtopositioned with one of the most liveliest screen kisses I have ever seen. I remember reading an interview in which Refn looked to the head smashing scene in Irreversible in order to get the desired effect.
The supporting players have fun in their roles. The loveable Ron Pearlman does sleazy and funny with his turn as one half of a corrupt owner of a Pizza parlour. The other half is Albert Brooks, who seemingly down to earth demeanor completely disappears when he decides to stick a fork in it. It's a pretty sophisticated performance that screams subtle menance. Christina Hendricks is completely wasted in a minor role, and it's obvious that Winding Refn only got her involved because he fancies with her as one can tell by the way she is framed, but at least she manages to looks ludicrously gorgeous in her very few mins of screen time.
Besides Refn's ultra slick direction, however, the main star of the show is the Eastwood homage himself, Driver. I've said a lot about Gosling and what i'm about to say really isn't much different. The cool retro poster itself reveals him as an instantly iconic figure with that scorpion symboled silver jacket and skinny jeans. He even has a toothpick just to put the icing on the cake. There are shades of guys like Travis Bickle, Phillip Marlowe, many characters of Steve McQueen/Paul Newman in his effortlessly masculine and decent natured performance as a man who finding himself in increasingly brutal situations for his latent love of Irene. Gosling has very little dialogue in the film, so a lot of his expression comes from facial gestures and body language. He looks a little more athletic and as the film goes along, you get an understanding that the character has very few limits. All this without any backstory, name, age, etc.
In fact, if there is one thing I found frustrating about Drive, it's the fact that we don't get to know the character at besides the fact that he likes likes cars, has a moral code of honour and will do anything to protect Irene and her son. I get that it adds to the mystique of the character, but a little get-to-know would have been quite nice.
I also felt that even though I really enjoyed set up, it takes a little too long to get to thick of things. This film is about 100mins, that's not even two hours. Stripping down 10 mins of the early scenes by 10 mins would not have hurt at all. The actual end sequence feels a little rushed, but it doesn't hinder the film that badly.
Otherwise, watch this please. Refn has a new muse in Gosling, and the two will work together at least two more times in the next couple of years with Only God Forgives, a thai boxing film and a remake of Logan's Run, which, from a stylistic standpoint, could be brilliant with Refn at the helm and Gosling starring.
But for now, take a Drive and just allow it to take you to any place you want. God that sentence was ****ing pathetic
! Anyways, you guys get what I mean, I think. But seriously, watch and enjoy.
Last edited by The Prestige; 12-19-11 at 11:40 AM.
