Drive A MovieReview: A Real Humanbeing A Real Hero

"You ever hear the story about the scorpion and the frog? Well, your friend didn't make it across the river." Those are the subtley brilliant and confident words of the Driver; the otherwise nameless character played by Ryan Gosling in the film Drive. The film is exactly that, subtley brilliant and confident. It is no wonder that director Nicolas Winding Refn was awarded Best-Director at Cannes for this independant arthouse Thriller. Masterfully crafted, Drive feels more like a 1970's classic than the action movie the trailers portray. Like so many films of the 70's, Drive is an unforgettable and lasting contribution to film canon with a distinct sense of panache and originality that sets it apart from its predecessors and will forever provide a benchmark of comparison for films to follow as Gosling's invincible and laconic portrayal of the story's protagonist is as iconic and memorable as javier bardem's chigurh in no country for old men, al pacino's scarface, or robert deniro's raging bull.
Drive really does stand alone and its difficult to categorize or compare it to something else. Its kind of a drama, romance, thriller, gangster movie, action flick. But even those elements that would make you want to place it into a genre are so unique that trying to call it a car chase action flick because there's car chases in it, would fall really short of describing it. This film isn't fast and the furious or the transporter, it would be most accurate to say it is nihilistic-neo-noir at its best; the story of a crime from the perspective of the criminals rather than that of the police in an urban setting with elements of corruption, double-crosses, and devious plot twists with a femme fatale and a distinctive hard-boiled protagonist who lives by his own rules with themes of alienation, nihilism, existentialism and fatalism. It's Neo Noir where the hero says, "I don't carry a gun, I drive."

Like the protagonist, Nicolas Winding Refn's directing is patient, minimal, cool and calculating with explosive moments boiling below the surface. In the hands of a lesser director, this film wouldnt work. The pace begins slow and audiences hoping to see a vin diesel nicholas cage stunt movie will find themselves uncomfortably watching gosling emote affection for Carrey Mulligan's character in silence. This serves to purposes. The first is a contrast to the violence. The second is because the mystery behind "the Driver" that unfolds tells us that this is a character who doesn't really have anything to say because he doesn't relate. For the film afficianado, the tension building is thrilling because when we get the payoff, its explosive and relentless. From opening to close, Nicolas Winding Refn's choices are masterful. The first film of his that i had seen was Bronson and some of the same brilliant DNA codes Drive's sequences.

The frames are beautifully composed with care and attention to narrative context. For example when the Driver meets Carey Mulligan's character and asks about her husband's photo, we see her, and the photo of the boy and father on a mirror that is reflecting Gossling's image. Placing her and her whole family with Gosling superimposed in the background. Utterly brilliant.

The soundtrack blasts retro 80's synthesizers with lyrics so dead on that they seem as though they could have been written perfectly for the scenes they are chosen. The film begins with Kavinsky's Nightcall as the Driver is driving through the city of los Angeles and we hear the lyrics
"I want to drive you through the night, down the hills
I'm gonna tell you something you don't want to hear
I'm gonna show you where it's dark, but have no fear"

Wow. When you see the film you will understand how haunting these retro 80's sounds are. In a self referrential line Albert Brooks character says, I used to produce movies in the 80's they were action films that some critic described as European". When choosing the soundtrack it is as though Nicolas Winding Refn had this in mind. Using A real hero by college will forever be burned into my brain.

And as the song says, the Driver is a real hero. This summer has been jam packed with hero movies from Thor and Captain America, to Xmen first class, Harry Potter, Pirates of the Carribean, Cowboys and Aliens and Transformers 3. And given the fact that I cant tell you how many times i saw the world saved this summer, it was incredibly refreshing to see a film with a Real Hero that felt like a real human being.


I recommend going for a Drive

-MM