Drive

Drive is a stylized action crime drama...with an 80s feel to it.

My rating: four and a half reels out of five

From the start of the film it feels like you are sucked into a missing gem from the 80s. The thing that gives this film such an 80s feels is the soundtrack and it is one of the things that helps give this film such a particular style. It adds to the tone of the film which is established at the beginning and stays consistent throughout.

The film opens with our protagonist, simply called Driver, as a driver during a heist job. It's a tense driving sequence that's brilliantly told with just the sound effects of the environment around our characters. Our main character is calm, confident, and keeps a lot to himself. During the day he works as a Hollywood stunt driver for Shannon and also works in Shannon's shop. Shannon utilizes Driver in any way possible including stock car driving and for heists. Driver takes an interest in his neighbor, Irene (Carey Mulligan) and her son, but when her husband Standard (Oscar Isaac) returns home from jail, Driver agrees to help him with a job in order to protect Irene, Standard, and their son from being harmed.

Drive is not a high octane thrill ride that some might suspect. The pacing is slow after the opening sequence because the time is taken to develop all the characters in the movie. When there are car chase sequences, they're precisely executed with fantastic sound editing and on one particular sequence, great cinematography. The focus of the movie though is really more about the Driver. Driver cares about his love interest enough to protect her and that includes respecting her marriage to Standard and protecting her at all costs. Driver may have a tender heart but he is not a pushover. He holds his own and is not afraid to confront people or to stand up for himself when confronted.

Ryan Gosling, just like his other roles, plays Driver to perfection. He also has a great supporting cast around him. Carey Mulligan performance is genuine and Albert Brooks playing Bernie Rose is surprisingly ruthless. Bryan Cranston is great as Shannon, like a proud father to an extraordinary son. Finally, Ron Perlman is great in his role as Nino.

Drive is a very dark film with explosive bits of shocking violence and very little room for humor. It's a very different take on the crime genre. The film takes on styles from multiple movies, but is able to form them all into a particular style. For example, I was reminded of the protagonist from Ghost Dog and the style of violence and tone from Scarface. And some of my friends mentioned it was like Pretty in Pink meets Pulp Fiction. Overall, Drive is a unique film.

You'll probably like this film if:

1. You like great acting.

2. You like a good story.

You'll probably not like this film if:

1. You expect a film like fast and the furious.

2. You hate music that sounds like it's from the 80s.
3. If you hate graphic gory violence. 

"If I drive for you, you give me a time and a place. I give you a five-minute window, anything happens in that five minutes and I'm yours no matter what. I don't sit in while you're running it down; I don't carry a gun... I drive."