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Drive (2011)
Director: Nicolas Winding Refn
Cast overview: Ryan Gosling, Carey Mulligan
Running time: 100 minutes
I remember a couple of years ago that this film garnered some rave reviews, but I never got round to watching it - and wasn't as much of a film fan then as I am now. I've given it a watch, and unfortunately have been left fairly disappointed. It felt from the very start like a modern-day Taxi Driver, and certainly has some notable parallels with that film that extend far beyond simply the title - the taciturn, solitary protagonist whom we don't know much about, who isn't really expanded upon as a character; the big-city location; the driving element; the violence, sometimes gratuitous; the younger woman with whom the protagonist becomes infatuated. However, Taxi Driver is a far, far superior film that stands rightfully as one of the all-time classics. This, on the other hand, is a very mediocre effort from a director who has produced better.
This is the first I've seen of Gosling, and I wasn't impressed. There's nothing wrong with playing silent characters, or being that type of actor, but here he seems to be permanently sedated, a mindless zombie who offers very little to his character's role and lacks any kind of tangible charisma. Carey Mulligan can be very good, but here is fairly ordinary. The likes of Cranston and Brooks are all talented actors in their own rights, but here they seem dulled by a weak script.
One thing I did enjoy was the soundtrack. It's a 1980s-style score that perfectly complements the scene in which it plays, and it's one of the few things from the film that came across as well-done. There wasn't much else. The driving scenes, of which - ironically - there are few, were entertaining enough, but even in those there was a kind of torpor, a real lack of excitement.
That's the thing about this film - it plays out as something it's not, an art-house film that fails on most levels, with mostly wooden acting, a poor, undeveloped script, and a complete absence of a defining plot. This isn't terrible, but it wasn't exactly enjoyable. Going into this, if there was one thing I thought this would be, it was enjoyable. It wasn't.
Quotes
Driver: [on the phone with Irene] Can I talk to you? I won't keep you long. I have to go somewhere and I don't think I can come back. But I just wanted you to know. Getting to be around you and Benicio was the best thing that ever happened to me.
[first lines]
Driver: [on phone] There's a hundred-thousand streets in this city. You don't need to know the route. You give me a time and a place, I give you a five minute window. Anything happens in that five minutes and I'm yours. No matter what. Anything happens a minute either side of that and you're on your own. Do you understand?
[pause]
Driver: Good. And you won't be able to reach me on this phone again.
Bearded Redneck: You're Shannon's buddy right? We met last year. You drove me and my brother back from Palm Springs. We hired another wheelman. I spent six months in jail. My brother, he got himself killed. I got this sweet job coming up.
Driver: How 'bout this. You shut your mouth. Or I'll kick your teeth down your throat and I'll shut it for you.
Bearded Redneck: Nice seein' you again.
Trivia
Ryan Gosling replaced Hugh Jackman.
Driver references the fable of The Scorpion and the Frog: the frog agrees to carry the scorpion across the river; the scorpion stings the frog, saying "it's my nature" and both drown. Driver can be seen as The Frog of the story - he drives/carries criminals (scorpions) around in his car, but is inevitably dragged into their destructive world (stung) leading to everybody's downfall. Driver's jacket has a scorpion on the back, just as the frog carried the scorpion on its back.
The Driver and Irene actually say very little to each other, primarily because Ryan Gosling and Carey Mulligan felt that their scenes should be more focused on the mood and refused to say many of the scripted lines. Mulligan summarized making the film as "staring longingly at Ryan Gosling for hours each day."
Trailer
Director: Nicolas Winding Refn
Cast overview: Ryan Gosling, Carey Mulligan
Running time: 100 minutes
I remember a couple of years ago that this film garnered some rave reviews, but I never got round to watching it - and wasn't as much of a film fan then as I am now. I've given it a watch, and unfortunately have been left fairly disappointed. It felt from the very start like a modern-day Taxi Driver, and certainly has some notable parallels with that film that extend far beyond simply the title - the taciturn, solitary protagonist whom we don't know much about, who isn't really expanded upon as a character; the big-city location; the driving element; the violence, sometimes gratuitous; the younger woman with whom the protagonist becomes infatuated. However, Taxi Driver is a far, far superior film that stands rightfully as one of the all-time classics. This, on the other hand, is a very mediocre effort from a director who has produced better.
This is the first I've seen of Gosling, and I wasn't impressed. There's nothing wrong with playing silent characters, or being that type of actor, but here he seems to be permanently sedated, a mindless zombie who offers very little to his character's role and lacks any kind of tangible charisma. Carey Mulligan can be very good, but here is fairly ordinary. The likes of Cranston and Brooks are all talented actors in their own rights, but here they seem dulled by a weak script.
One thing I did enjoy was the soundtrack. It's a 1980s-style score that perfectly complements the scene in which it plays, and it's one of the few things from the film that came across as well-done. There wasn't much else. The driving scenes, of which - ironically - there are few, were entertaining enough, but even in those there was a kind of torpor, a real lack of excitement.
That's the thing about this film - it plays out as something it's not, an art-house film that fails on most levels, with mostly wooden acting, a poor, undeveloped script, and a complete absence of a defining plot. This isn't terrible, but it wasn't exactly enjoyable. Going into this, if there was one thing I thought this would be, it was enjoyable. It wasn't.
Quotes
Driver: [on the phone with Irene] Can I talk to you? I won't keep you long. I have to go somewhere and I don't think I can come back. But I just wanted you to know. Getting to be around you and Benicio was the best thing that ever happened to me.
[first lines]
Driver: [on phone] There's a hundred-thousand streets in this city. You don't need to know the route. You give me a time and a place, I give you a five minute window. Anything happens in that five minutes and I'm yours. No matter what. Anything happens a minute either side of that and you're on your own. Do you understand?
[pause]
Driver: Good. And you won't be able to reach me on this phone again.
Bearded Redneck: You're Shannon's buddy right? We met last year. You drove me and my brother back from Palm Springs. We hired another wheelman. I spent six months in jail. My brother, he got himself killed. I got this sweet job coming up.
Driver: How 'bout this. You shut your mouth. Or I'll kick your teeth down your throat and I'll shut it for you.
Bearded Redneck: Nice seein' you again.
Trivia
Ryan Gosling replaced Hugh Jackman.
Driver references the fable of The Scorpion and the Frog: the frog agrees to carry the scorpion across the river; the scorpion stings the frog, saying "it's my nature" and both drown. Driver can be seen as The Frog of the story - he drives/carries criminals (scorpions) around in his car, but is inevitably dragged into their destructive world (stung) leading to everybody's downfall. Driver's jacket has a scorpion on the back, just as the frog carried the scorpion on its back.
The Driver and Irene actually say very little to each other, primarily because Ryan Gosling and Carey Mulligan felt that their scenes should be more focused on the mood and refused to say many of the scripted lines. Mulligan summarized making the film as "staring longingly at Ryan Gosling for hours each day."
Trailer