Review: Drive

Summery
A slick, well crafted success, Drive expertly blends adrenaline with pathos, and is an engaging thrill-ride with plenty of substance to go with it’s style.

Full Review
Ryan Gosling is the rising star in Hollywood at the moment. In 2011 he appeared in two of the years best films. One was The Ides of March. The other was Drive. At bottom, Drive is an action film, but it’s no Mission Impossible or Pirates of the Caribbean, it does so much more than throw as many fast paced scenes into a 90-minute window as it can. Drive is slick, smart, emotionally substantive, and, as has been pointed out by every one else on the internet, very stylish.

Ryan Gosling stars as a man simply known as “The Driver”, a mechanic who works part time as a stuntman, and part part time as a getaway driver. It’s not the most demanding role he’ll be asked to portray in what will probably be a long and successful acting career, but Gosling plays The Driver with competence and confidence, easily leaping any hurdles in front of him.

If one were to go into Drive expecting an unceasing barrage of bullets and CGI, one might find themselves instantly sucked in by the excellent opening before wondering if they were watching the right film, as Drive spends the next 30 minutes introducing characters, setting up events and developing romance. It doesn’t do this badly, though it does take perhaps a little longer than it should in getting where it needs to go, but Drive arrives at it’s destination in a whirlwind of gritty, thunderous moments, particularly when The Driver assaults a would-be attacker in an elevator in what is one of the most brutal scenes in a film all year.

Few films blend visceral carnage with emotional resonance as well as Drive does, and the performances from Ryan Gosling and Carey Mulligan have to take a lot of the credit for that. The film is cinematographed beautifully, featuring some truly memorable shots and the film ends on an emotional, bittersweet note that is guaranteed to be replayed in one’s head for a long time after the credits finish rolling.

Drive isn’t without fault. As has been said, the intro is terrific, instantly sucking you into the film, but the next half-hour passes at a crawl, it’s not that the events on screen aren’t being done with competence, it’s simply poorly paced. Another thing is that, for all it’s brutally violent scenes, and there are many, there are also many scenes that are extremely underwhelming, such as when The Driver drowns someone in the sea. Drowning is certainly not a peaceful way to go, but given the context of the scene, and given that the camera is positioned  about 40 feet away from the incident, it can leave one feeling a little under whelmed.

It’s faults don’t do enough to taint what is otherwise a very good film. It’s well acted, featuring particularly memorable performances from Albert Brooks and Carey Mulligan, as well as Gosling himself, wonderfully shot, and viscerally and cerebrally gripping, and is by far the best action movie of 2011.


Should I see it?
Drive is one of the best films of 2011 and it shouldn’t be missed. See it.

Overall Score
82/100