Catching up on DVD: Drive Review

Ryan Gosling is performing maintenance on cars in Drive

Drive

A+

A Review by Frederick Cholowski

Action movies have had an identity crisis over the last decade. The genre has been tarnished by over reliance on special effects and little reliance on characters or a comprehensible plot. Then there is Drive, an action movie from cult Danish director Nicolas Winding Refn that hits all the right notes. It’s fast paced and action pact but at the same time takes its time to do the most important things such as develop characters and set up a plot.

  

 Drive follows the unnamed, silent protagonist simply named Driver (Ryan Gosling) who is a movie stuntman by day and a criminal getaway driver at night. He soon becomes friends with a neighbor Irene and her kid Benicio (Carey Mulligan and Kaden Leos) and continues to work with his right hand man Shannon (Bryan Cranston). During a heist gone wrong Irene’s husband Standard (Oscar Isaac) is shot and Driver has money that belongs to two high class gangsters Bernie and Nino (Albert Brooks and Ron Periman). This starts a cat and mouse like chase between Driver who is trying to keep his new found family and Shannon safe and Bernie and Nino who will stop at nothing to get what they want.

  

 The magic of Drive is that the first forty minutes is devoted to developing the characters. By the time the big events go down the characters are developed enough to the point that we truly like them and hope they come out on top. Another great thing about Drive is its constant levels of suspense that build throughout the film. You never know if Driver is going to live or end up six feet under so the film keeps you on your toes the whole way through.

Once the action starts it is brutal and uncompromising. Refn has a certain edge to the violence that is reminiscent of Tarantino and Rodriguez. The best part is that Refn also leaves a bit up to the imagination making for some truly brutal possibilities.

While Gosling isn’t all that big or muscular he is probably one of the best silent action heroes in many years. He doesn’t say much but his performance is described by his facial expressions and his actions. He doesn’t use a gun but the way he kills is uncompromising and brutal; and being a drama star Gosling is able to give a fine performance when not on the prowl. Mulligan is great and provides an innocence to the role she is given. The rest of the supporting cast works as well with Cranston, Brooks, and Periman all giving solid supporting performances.

Technically Drive looks, sounds and moves fantastically. The opening six minutes of the film (arguably the best part) is a pulse pounding heist scene that involves much planning and precision. The scene uses beautiful establishing shots of LA mixed with close almost claustrophobic shots of Gosling. In all the movie also has a very 1980’s feeling with hot pink titles, stylized action, and one of the best techno pop scores I have ever heard.

All in all Drive is an amazing action movie and one of the best films period to be released in 2011. The mix of pulse pounding action and character development all melds together in one flashy package. Drive is a fantastic film and is one action movie that shouldn’t be ignored.