Drive-review

I'll just hit the breaks.  Let's see how far that kid can fly.

“Drive” is the story of an unnamed Driver who works as a Hollywood stunt driver and mechanic who moonlights as an incredibly skilled getaway car driver. He never says much but this just adds to his mystery.  He befriends the neighbors in his apartment building and becomes very close to Irene and her son Benicio.  Irene’s husband is released from prison and though he is a nice guy looking to make amends for his troubled past he finds himself being dragged back into a world of crime and bringing the Driver along for the ride.

I believe I called shotgun.

Made in a style reminiscent of “Pulp Fiction” we have a movie that seems to be attempting a style of film noir and 80s B-movie gore.  The Driver is like a hero with no name of the Sergio Leone western movies.  He says very little and he is the ultimate antihero that deals in blood with silence and true grit.

Ryan Gosling pulled off the role really well.  If he was sarcastic or funny or even used one-liners he wouldn’t have been believable at all as a hardass.  In this case the writing and the body language was pulled off really well.  Albert Brooks was a terrific villain as well.  Normally, playing friendly comedic roles he played a violent Jewish mobster, with the class and believability the role deserved.

Christian Hendricks is literally smoking.

Other notables I would love to mention. I think it was a great choice to make the husband of Irene a likeable guy who actually befriends the Driver rather than the stereotypical jerk out of prison that you expect to hate because you want the hero to get the girl.  Christina Hendricks is one of the most stunning girls on television these days and to use her for as briefly as the filmmakers did is pretty gutsy.  Still the movie is based on a book and I hear they tried to follow the book as much as possible.

Bryan Cranston also does an amazing job.  Like Woody Harrleson it is really great to watch someone with so much talent rise out of the cesspool that the sitcom can typecast on an actor.  He really makes a great supporting actor in this movie.  The director of this movie, Nicolas Winding Refn, made the great movie “Bronson”. This movie is just proof that he really knows what the hell he is doing behind a camera.

Watch out for that craggy rock! Oh wait. It's Ron Pearlman.

All in all I recommend this movie.  It’s exciting gory, action at its best. It’s also a well put together and clever movie that really is impressed me on how it draws from spaghetti western and neo-noir style that make for a fun experience.  I think we’ll be hearing a lot about this one as it becomes more watched and more popular.