Starring: Ryan Gosling, Carey Mulligan, Bryan Cranston and Albert Brooks
Directed By: Nicolas Winding Refn
Screenplay By: Hossein Amini
Based on the Book By: James Sallis
Produced By: Michel Litvak, John Palermo, Marc Platt, Gigi Pritzker and Adam Siegel
Distributor: FilmDistrict
Rating: R
Running Time: 100 minutes
Website: drive-movie.com
Budget: $13 million (estimated)
Genre: Action/Crime/Drama
Release Date: September 16, 2011
In Drive, Ryan Gosling (Blue Valentine) is an interesting contradiction: an excessively-reserved movie stunt driver. He is quiet and unassuming as he goes about his daily routine in a garish white satin jacket emblazoned with a scorpion across the back. He is eternally cool and reserved, except when spitting epic threats of violence at crooks too stupid to keep a low profile.
Gosling knows all sorts of lowlifes, thanks to his reputation as a top-notch getaway driver. He has a gift behind the wheel, but it’s his nearly-autistic adherence to rules for criminal activity that guarantee a clean getaway: he doesn’t get involved, he doesn’t carry a gun, and, most importantly, if anyone lingers at a crime scene for even a second over five minutes, he has no problem leaving them behind.
His only connection to humanity is Bryan Cranston (“Breaking Bad”), a crippled auto mechanic who lets him work at his shop. Cranston dreams of striking it rich with a stunt-driving show financed by local criminals Ron Perlman (Hellboy, “Sons of Anarchy”) and Albert Brooks (The Muse), but these plans take a detour once Gosling falls for shy neighbor Carey Mulligan (An Education), a waitress struggling to raise her young son. After her husband returns from prison indebted to a crime boss, Gosling agrees to help with one last job to settle up and keep the family safe.
Things go horribly awry when Gosling breaks his own five-minute rule. Mulligan’s husband is double-crossed, leaving Gosling on the run from the law AND the mob, carrying a duffel bag full of cash. Armed with only a hammer and a penchant for stomping on heads, Gosling goes on the offensive, looking to take down Perlman, Brooks and anyone who tries to stop him.
But when summarizing a film like Drive it’s not the plot points that matter. Like Quentin Tarantino, Danish director Nicholas Winding Refn is a student of film with a knack for playing with our expectations of genre films. He twists stereotypes, blends styles and tells his story with such surety that the end result is greater than the sum of its parts.
It is the strength of the actors and the trust in the audience that fleshes out the depths of this story. A simple transcript of the film would read like an entirely different movie. It’s what the characters aren’t saying, the moments between lines, where the characters become real. Gosling shines in a role that in lesser hands could have come across as bored or aloof. He is detached from the world, yes, but it is by his choice, because he fears what he is capable of.
The film is similarly deliberate in its use of violence and action sequences. Aided by an unnerving sound design and engrossing score, the violence in Drive is used to shatter any sense of complacency. The chase sequences are shot primarily from a fixed backseat angle, lending a sense of claustrophobia that heightens the tension. Even a large-scale, slow-motion stunt sequence involving a car crash is barely glimpsed through Gosling’s rear window; the camera instead focuses on the reaction of his terrified passenger (Christina Hendricks).
Drive isn’t a perfect film. Its aggressive stylishness at times overwhelms the character drama at its core, and there are gaping plot holes for anyone paying attention. With its neon pink cursive titles and synth-heavy soundtrack, it sometimes evokes the worst tendencies of late-night basic-cable staples. What Drive offers is a singular vision from an extremely talented director, and enough twists on tired clichés to keep an audience engrossed and entertained.
Alternately charming, brutal and haunting, Drive is a film people will either absolutely love or passionately despise. But one thing is for certain: they will be talking about this movie for years to come.
4 Stars (out of 5)
