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Drive (2011)
Drive is one of my favourite films post-2000, a film that in my opinion was definitely worthy of more than 1 Oscar nomination. The film is focussed around the mysterious life of a Hollywood stuntman who is also a getaway driver as he gets mixed up in the brutal criminal world. The feel of the film is brilliant with Nicolas Widning Refn’s cinematography creating a wonderful neo-noir style film with a fantastic 80’s atmosphere that is aided by Frank Martinez’ wonderful score.
The plot revolves around the life of Ryan Gosling who is excellent in his mysterious role; he befriends a young mother Irene (Carey Mulligan) whose husband returns home from jail. After watching the first part of the film you’ll probably have expected it to pan out as a romance story between the Driver and Irene as he saves her from her abusive husband Standard (Oscar Isaac), instead we get something quite different with Standard proving a rather charming and likeable father who seriously looks to have left his criminal lifestyle, the Driver agrees to help him carry out one final task for men he owes money – but not everything goes to plan.
A line I often see mentioned with the film is its tag line ‘There are no clean getaways’ and that is certainly the most appropriate description of what unfolds as the Driver sees himself become head-hunted by criminal bosses Bernie Rose (Albert Brooks) and Nino (Ron Perlman), the film is ultra-violent and very brutal so it is understandable why some may be uncomfortable watching it.
Elaborating on an earlier point about Ryan Gosling’s excellent performance, some may criticise the character’s lack of emotion because he rarely speaks but this only adds to the mystery of just who he is. Gosling creates a calm and charismatic character whose past we know nothing of and he simply does what he needs to now, what we see are strong outbursts of violence from the character as a result of the plot that unfolds with him trying to protect his friend Irene, he carries the burden of her husband’s death with him throughout the film and feels he has a degree of responsibility to protect her.
Nicolas Winding Refn is one of my favourite directors and one that should certainly be watched in the future, in Drive he has taken classic neo-noir style and has put his own print on it, he reminds me of Quentin Tarantino whose works are often inspired by classic films/styles (Samurai, Westerns etc.) yet he finds a way to make them his own.
RATING:
Drive (2011)
Drive is one of my favourite films post-2000, a film that in my opinion was definitely worthy of more than 1 Oscar nomination. The film is focussed around the mysterious life of a Hollywood stuntman who is also a getaway driver as he gets mixed up in the brutal criminal world. The feel of the film is brilliant with Nicolas Widning Refn’s cinematography creating a wonderful neo-noir style film with a fantastic 80’s atmosphere that is aided by Frank Martinez’ wonderful score.
The plot revolves around the life of Ryan Gosling who is excellent in his mysterious role; he befriends a young mother Irene (Carey Mulligan) whose husband returns home from jail. After watching the first part of the film you’ll probably have expected it to pan out as a romance story between the Driver and Irene as he saves her from her abusive husband Standard (Oscar Isaac), instead we get something quite different with Standard proving a rather charming and likeable father who seriously looks to have left his criminal lifestyle, the Driver agrees to help him carry out one final task for men he owes money – but not everything goes to plan.
A line I often see mentioned with the film is its tag line ‘There are no clean getaways’ and that is certainly the most appropriate description of what unfolds as the Driver sees himself become head-hunted by criminal bosses Bernie Rose (Albert Brooks) and Nino (Ron Perlman), the film is ultra-violent and very brutal so it is understandable why some may be uncomfortable watching it.
Elaborating on an earlier point about Ryan Gosling’s excellent performance, some may criticise the character’s lack of emotion because he rarely speaks but this only adds to the mystery of just who he is. Gosling creates a calm and charismatic character whose past we know nothing of and he simply does what he needs to now, what we see are strong outbursts of violence from the character as a result of the plot that unfolds with him trying to protect his friend Irene, he carries the burden of her husband’s death with him throughout the film and feels he has a degree of responsibility to protect her.
Nicolas Winding Refn is one of my favourite directors and one that should certainly be watched in the future, in Drive he has taken classic neo-noir style and has put his own print on it, he reminds me of Quentin Tarantino whose works are often inspired by classic films/styles (Samurai, Westerns etc.) yet he finds a way to make them his own.
RATING: