Quick Movie Review: Drive (2011)
Bottomline: Terrific film -- taut, suspenseful, well acted and directed. Love the music!
CAVEAT: Right around the one hour mark, this film goes into ultra-violent mode. Be prepared for tons of blood spray and brain splatter.
The greatest thing – and creepiest – about Drive is Albert
Brooks. He’s supposed to be a funny guy. He’s Nemo’s dad, for goodness sake. In
Drive, he is absolutely brilliant. He is a brilliant bad man. Then there is
Ryan Gosling. His understated performance has put off many people but, to me,
it’s fascinating. This easily could have been Gosling’s coming out party as a
21st Century action hero – full of wild action and funny quips.
Instead Director Nicholas Wedning Refn and Gosling take this into a different
direction – a no-name anti-hero who is pulled into a dangerous situation not of
his own making and then not-so-quietly goes about trying to make things right.
We are introduced to The Driver (Gosling) who works in a garage and is a stunt
driver. We don’t know where he’s from. Or why he’s there. We don’t have any
background. The story turns when The Driver becomes interested in a woman
(Carey Mulligan) and her son. Turns out her husband (Oscar Isaac) is in prison
but has gotten caught up in a mess that leads to the threatening of Mulligan
and her son. Gosling’s sense of right and wrong will not abide this – not to
mention he is betrayed. And, as it turns out, The Driver is no stranger to
extreme violence and he brings his vengeance upon those who have wronged him. And
this reminds of me of Clint Eastwood’s famous no-name bringers of vengeance. Is
Drive a modern day western? Is Gosling the next Eastwood with the iconic
overcoat (duster vs. scorpion jacket) and item to chew on (cheroot vs. toothpick)?
I went back and watched High Plains Drifter (1973). Not the best of Eastwood’s
no-name movies but you can certainly see the influence it has had on Drive. As
an avenging angel (demon?) Eastwood rides into Lago to avenge the murder of its
former marshal. He asserts the dominance of his personality and uses his guns
when pushed. The violence is quick and definitive. There are no funny lines. No
monologuing. No quips. They push, Easwood draws, they die. It’s about an hour
into Drive before we see the violence – extreme violence – that will come to
mark the rest of the movie and will come to define eventually what The Driver
is capable of and is willing to do. What Gosling doesn’t have, however, is
Eastwood’s presence. He tried hard but it’s just not there. It’s become cliche
today but when you watch one of Eastwood’s no-name westerns, you see why the
cliche is so true – Gosling is a good actor, but Eastwood is a movie star who
absolutely owns the screen. When he glares at you, you know he means business. He
doesn’t have to say a word. Gosling is good but he has a way to go to be the
next Eastwood.
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