Drive
Stars: Ryan Gosling, Carey Mulligan, Bryan Cranston, Albert Brooks
Director: Nicolas Winding Refn
2011
On paper, Drive sounds like a generic carcrash flick, with a plot reminiscent of both Walter Hill’s The Driver and more recently, three Transporter sillinesses (it’s a word). And at one point it was destined to be your standard action movie with Hugh Jackman in the lead. Thankfully, Danish director Nicolas Winding Refn jumped on board and created a modern masterpiece of cool austerity. In a world full of bloated, CGI-botoxed action movies, Drive shows how the genre can still surprise when some effort is put into it. And surprise it does, with miles of style, thunderous car chases and some truly horrendous ultraviolence. A paean to the 1980s, the bright pink font used in the credits hammers this home even before the utterly astounding Cliff Martinez synth score registers. It’s like GTA Vice City in the flesh. But make no mistake, this story is set ferociously in the present. Oozing with modern noir atmosphere and deliberate pacing, Drive delivers on all fronts while restraining itself where many actioners go over the top and into parody. The opening car chase is alternately pulse-pounding and excruciatingly slow, serving to show that the unnamed driver has smarts as well as wheel skills. Gosling is in fine form here. He has few lines (I don’t think the character even spoke for the first fifteen minutes or so), but his actions speak volumes. And, in a nice visual metaphor, he’s got a boss silver quilted jacket which sustains battle scars as the driver’s carefully planned existence begins to unravel. Refn infuses the supporting characters with depth, with Brooks, Cranston and surly man-ape Ron Perlman all delivering spectacular performances. Carey Mulligan, as the next-door love interest, doesn’t exactly set the world on fire but she’s cute in a serene kind of way. Most importantly though, you can understand why the driver is interested in her. The best film of 2011, believe the hype.
10/10
