#Drive 2011 reviews driver
The side characters, of a great cast including Bryan Cranston, Albert Brooks and Ron Perlman, have more lines each than Irene and The Driver put together. We simply see Irene and The Driver fall in love, in a montage that’s without dialogue but plays along to the 1980s’ pop homage of ‘A Real Hero.’ Gosling is at his finest here, able to convey everything with a twitch of the lip or a stern look.
Gosling has to act, rather than speak, his emotions and intentions most of the time. If you’re one for intense, plentiful dialogue, then this film isn’t for you. Then the strings of Kavinsky’s ‘Nightcall’ plunged me further into this film as the opening credits hit… The opening car chase scene is short entirely inside the car…fantastic! The opening scene drew me in, hook line and sinker. It signals not only what is happening in the game, but what is happening in the chase as well. There’s a light soundtrack, but the beat of the scene is the radio commentary for the aforementioned sports game. The Driver gives his instructions to a pair of robbers, waits for them, and escorts them to safety, evading police cars and handily getting lost in a crowd leaving a basketball game. Right from the opening scene, we witness a believable and tangible car chase/escape scene. Let’s get this straight: it may have been marketed as a ‘Fast and Furious’ type film, but ‘Drive’ is nothing like that CGI car-filled franchise. Soon, The Driver is entangled in some dangerous business… He falls for the lady next door, Irene, but the release of her husband from prison gets The Driver involved in a pawn shop robbery that goes awry. By day he’s a stunt driver and a mechanic, by night he’s in the driving seat for getaway cars. The plot is simple: The Driver, an unnamed man played by Ryan Gosling, has a few jobs. It’s style over substance, but only just.
I was mesmerised by it the first time I watched it, and even after several re-viewings, that feeling still remains. The soundtrack is never less than superb. It’s an exercise in almost pure cinema, where visuals guide the narrative and dialogue is reduced to a minimum. However, one film that I was shocked not to find on there was Nicolas Refn Winding’s ‘Drive.’ In my humble opinion, ‘Drive’ is one of the very best films of the 21 st Century. I was surprised to see ‘The Dark Knight’ on there, as it is superhero movie, after all! ‘Mulholland Drive’ topped the list, which included critic friendly films such as ‘Tree of Life,’ ‘The Assassin,’ ‘The Diving Bell and The Butterfly,’ etc. It may be a bit premature, as we are only fifteen years into the 21 st Century.
#Drive 2011 reviews movie
Last week, BBC Culture released a list of the Top 100 Films of the 21 st Century, as voted for by movie critics (click here for the list).
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