Drive preview
“Drive” is the retro cool badass driving movie Quentin Tarantino wished he had made with his limp self-referential “Death Proof.” It’s also is the best film I’ve seen so far this year and I can’t stop thinking about it. But because one of the best things about the film was how surprising it was, this isn’t going to be a review so much as it’s a spoiler-free gushing endorsement. “Drive” is essentially a B movie shot like an arthouse film about a stunt driver who moonlights as a getaway driver on occasional robberies and gets entangled with some pretty mean mobsters after a plan goes awry. The story may be familiar but it unfolds like not really any other movie you’ve seen before.
If you do not already have a man-crush (or regular lady crush) on Ryan Gosling, you will after this film. It would be impossible to resist it. He’s wonderful. He leads an ensemble cast including Carey Mulligan, Albert Brooks, Ron Perlman, Bryan Cranston (Walter!) and Christina Hendricks (Joan!). Some of the performances are admittedly over-the-top but that doesn’t seem to detract from the film which has a go-for-broke attitude from the opening frames. The soundtrack is awesome 80s cheese synthpop and I’ve been playing it pretty much nonstop since seeing the film.
The editing in the film is great and many scenes that could have been expositional (and boring because you’ve seen them 1000 times before) are cut short so you get just enough information to figure out the scene. Gosling’s character is a man of few words but you’re never lost and the film just speeds right along. A great filmmaker once said he wanted to make a film that was steak & vodka, no sides and that’s what this feels like. I haven’t seen any of director Nicolas Winding Refn’s other films save for “Bronson” which I disliked but after this film he’s a filmmaker that’s going to be impossible to ignore.
I spent the film alternately grinning and wincing and to go into the reasons why would rob you of the enjoyment of finding out why for yourself. So please, don’t read any more reviews (you’re allowed to finish this one as I’ve carefully avoided telling you anything more than I knew about it going in) and don’t watch the trailer (whatever you do) and see it. It’s cool and weird and you’re not likely to see anything else like it. I’ll be catching the film a 2nd time when it plays at BAM on September 14th (2 days before it opens) followed by a Q&A with the director. You should probably come.
