After the poor response I had to the supposedly excellent Crazy, Stupid, Love, my expectations on Drive went down somewhat. I still wanted to see it but I decided to try and reel in my excitement surrounding the film's potential until I'd seen it.
So along I went with the founding member of my Ryan Gosling appreciation society to see Drive. The story centers on a man (Ryan Gosling - you never find out his characters name) who does stunt driving for films. He also works as a mechanic and does some getaway driving on the side. He meets a girl, Irene (Carey Mulligan), who has a young son and a husband who's in prison. When the husband, Standard (Oscar Isaac), is released it puts paid to the driver and Irene's budding romance but the husband soon finds himself in trouble with local gangsters who he owes a debt to from his time in prison. The driver, having feelings for Standard's wife, wants to help him out of his tight spot and agrees to help him pull off one last job, robbing a pawn shop, to ensure his family's safety.
I was hooked on Drive from the super stylish opening sequence where the driver does a getaway job for two local robbers. It was a tense opener with very little dialogue but it was executed to perfection and set the tone for the rest of the film.
Despite being the main character, the driver not only has no name, he also has very few lines in the film, with most of his feelings being played out through looks in the rear view mirror. Having said that the performances of Gosling and all of the other actors involved are faultless. The film is so grounded by the characters that when it does turn violent it's all the more shocking.
The direction is slick and stylish but the film has a retro feel about it that stems from the music and the neon style font used in the opening and closing credits. Somehow these elements work really well together and I'm sure I'm not the only one who will come away from the film with the songs still in my head. The classical music used in the elevator scene (as seen in the trailer) is also very haunting and fits the scene perfectly.
Probably one which a lot of people won't see, but definitely one they should. 9 out of 10.
Viewing Date - 6th October 2011
UK Release Date - 23rd September 2011
Cast Overview:
Ryan Gosling ~ Driver
Carey Mulligan ~ Irene
Bryan Cranston ~ Shannon
Albert Brooks ~ Bernie Rose
Oscar Isaac ~ Standard
Christina Hendricks ~ Blanche
Ron Perlman ~ Nino
Director ~ Nicholas Winding Refn
Writer(s) ~ Hossein Amini (Screenplay) and James Sallis (Book)
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