DRIVE - Review

Drive

Crime/Drama, 2011

Directed by Nicolas Winding Refn

Starring
Ryan Gosling as The Driver
Carey Mulligan as Irene
Albert Brooks as Bernie Rose
Bryan Cranston as Shannon
Kaden Leos as Benicio
Oscar Isaac as Standard Gabriel
Christina Hendricks as Blanche
Ron Perlman as Nino

"If I drive for you, you get your money. You tell me where we start, where we're going, where we're going afterwards. I give you five minutes when we get there. Anything happens in that five minutes and I"m yours. No matter what. Anything a minute other side of  that and you're on your own. I don't sit in while you're running it down. I don't carry a gun. I drive."

It seems as though movies nowadays go for style over substance. Drive has a nice combination of the two, packing a fantastic story with plenty of stylish action scenes. As far as crime films go, it isn’t too long or complex and it operates on a pretty small scale, something you don’t see too often in crime films nowadays.

Set in Los Angeles, the film stars Ryan Gosling as a driver, someone who drives a getaway car for small time criminals. As seen in the opening scene, he’s very good at his job. By day, he works as a mechanic as well as a stunt car driver for movies. The Driver keeps to himself, just trying to get by each day. Things get complicated when he meets his neighbor Irene, played by the lovely Carey Mulligan. Irene's husband gets released from prison, and he needs The Driver to help him pull a job that will get him back on top. Shit gets complicated, and all hell breaks loose.
Drive is a strange, but delicious cocktail of genres. It's first and formost a crime film, with some amazing action sequences and even a little romance. It has a little bit of an art-house-y feel too it, but that shouldn't turn anyone away from it. The soundtrack, on the other hand, is pretty strange, a blend of 80s and modern electro-pop, yet feels right at home with the superb visual style. Within a fantastic cast, Gosling and Brooks are the two standouts. Drive would be nothing without them.
Drive is a hugely entertaining crime film, with some nice character development and fantastic action. It's definitely worth watching, regardless of what kind of movies you're into. It's probably the best movie to come out in 2011.

Score - 9.8/10