Review: Drive (Refn, 2011)
October 14th 2011 00:25
Drive (2011, Refn)
Written October 9, 2011
Filmgoers may go into Drive expecting something along the lines of Gone in Sixty Seconds, Fast and the Furious, or Drive Crazy. These viewers will be disappointed in the fact that they’re not achieving their mindless entertainment, but should revel in the fact that what they’re experiencing is far more profound: a film attempting to take a style and build a story around. This exact thing that makes Drive a superior film, however, is the same thing which will alienate mainstream filmgoers. The first scene alone is indicative to how the rest of the film will progress. Ryan Gosling (The Driver) waits for the two thieves to return to the car after pulling a heist. His job is to drive them to and from their destination points. As the thieves return to the car and they’re pursued by the cops The Driver says nothing, reveals no emotions; he just drives. The thieves are also completely silent – this is not a chaotic chase sequences wherein there is drama within the car and screaming. No, there are only the brilliant beats of Clint Martinez’s score. In a later chase sequence, there is some mild screaming but still not to the extent one sees in generic Hollywood action films.
Simultaneously, Drive is self-aware of itself as the exercise in style that it is – many scenes play out slow and meticulous, with gaps of silence, allowing the audience to take in every second of celluloid. There’s a meet cute and a soft kindling romance, complete with dreamy songs overlapping on the soundtrack to elevate the mood of these scenes before the film takes its turn into ultra-violent, B-movie territory. It’s this shift that I’ve heard people have issues with – except this was the film’s intention all along. A study in style and a study in misdirection, Drive is not what it seems on the surface, but far more complex than its sparse dialogue and existential protagonist leads you to believe.
The film’s plot is simple – a quiet, unassuming Hollywood stuntman and mechanic, who moonlights as a getaway driver, finds himself caught up with his neighbor (played by Carey Mulligan) and her son prior to her husband’s release from prison. A job for hire goes awry and the driver finds himself caught in a web of corruption and violence. Describing the film in such a way makes it sound common and generic and in anyone else’s hands it may have been. Nicholas Winding Refn, however, is able to make a story such as this and make it into a non-Hollywood film which is self-reflexive on Hollywood films of past. Drive is a film made up of small moments, perfect camera placement and minute directorial choices which wash over you and make you want to set up house and never leave; I long to live in this film’s tone and beauty.
Ryan Gosling is perfectly cast and is one of the finest young actor’s working today. The supporting cast is stellar, including Mulligan, Albert Brooks, Ron Pearlman, Bryan Cranston and Oscar Isaacs, who does so much in such a small role. Mad Men’s Christina Hendricks has a terribly small role which is mostly that of a cameo but nevertheless it’s lovely to see her on the big screen.
Drive is, in this reviewer’s opinion, the best film of the year thus far. It isn’t a film needing of award accolades or even public general approval; it stands on its own as a work of art, magnetic from the opening frame to the closing title.
Author’s Note: I saw this article after writing this review earlier today. It’s rather hilarious when you think about my comments re: audience expectations and actual content – I guess I was wrong in thinking people would realize what they’re actually seeing is something better than a popcorn film
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