Drive (***)
Directed by: Nicolas Winding Refn
Starring: Ryan Gosling, Carrie Mulligan, Bryan Cranston, Albert
Brooks, Ron Perlman, Oscar Isaac, Christina Hendricks
Seen: December 14th 2011
*** Out of ****
Drive is a movie of startlingly stark contrasts, both visually and
emotionally. One moment you enjoy a sweet tryst between Driver (Gosling) and
Irene (Mulligan), with brutal violence punctuating events soon thereafter; light
and darkness being used to brilliant effect to further designate the difference.
This is more art-house than commercial cinema, and while it’s an action movie
in some regards, don’t expect a Die Hard or something similar by a long shot.
Driver is a brilliant driver, doing stunt-work for movies in his
official capacity, and driving for whoever pays in an after-hours capacity. He also
works at a local garage for Shannon (Cranston), who manages his driving
contracts, both legal and less so. Shannon brings him to the attention of
Bernie Rose (Brooks), a small-time mob boss who, along with his partner Nino
(Perlman), doesn’t shy away from gruesome violence to get ahead in the criminal
underworld; and are interested in having their names on a race-car.
Driver meets Irene, his neighbour, and the two seem to immediately hit
it off as Driver also builds a good relationship with her son. Irene’s husband,
Standard Gabriel (Isaac), is released from prison and approaches Driver for
help; he owes some bad people quite a bit of money. Based on his feelings for
Irene, Driver agrees to help, but things go horribly wrong and the stakes are
raised as the mob becomes involved, all of them now on Driver’s trail. Driver
responds with fierce efficiency, and causes Bernie and Nino some trouble as he
is adamant to protect Irene.
Drive is a subdued movie, with the moments of violence almost jarring
in their sudden vicious nature. The movie’s subtitle is “Some heroes are real”,
but while there are moments that emphasise this feeling, on the whole my experience
was that the movie contrasts this heroic sense with a darker and more brooding element
of rottenness and vileness in the nature of some human beings with a little too
much emphasis on the dark; the light has only moments to shine through as even
Driver succumbs to violent outbursts that are past the edge of rational
control.
All the actors in Drive do a great job, with Ryan Gosling continuing
his spate of good roles, while Albert Brooks (the guy who voiced the Clown Fish
Marlin, Nemo’s dad in Finding Nemo) deserves a special mention – I don’t know
him this way, and he was really quite chilling. Ron Perlman on the other hand
was an ill fit for me, with an over-reliance on swearing to be a villain (the
less bright kind) and moments of over-acting the part he doesn’t really get my
vote. Drive is good, but will be too dark for many a palate; with the visual
violence truly shocking at times. I found some parts of Drive just too fierce,
too dark, but I really enjoyed some elements of visual enlightenment that the
movie occasionally brought my way. If mainstream movies are your playground, I’d suggest you rather stay away, but for
something a bit more challenging, a bit off the beaten path, give Drive a try.
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