If “Drive” didn’t have so much gratuitous violence, I would have had no reservation about giving it a 4 - because it has so much going for it. First, and foremost, it has Ryan Gosling, who continues to demonstrate that he is one of our most talented and versatile actors. It has a creative noir script that keeps you guessing about what’s going to happen next. It has a capable cast of supporting actors including Carey Mulligan who gives her Irene an air of poignant sadness (although I would have liked a little more chemistry between her character and Gosling’s; Albert Brooks, a mild-mannered thug one minute and evil incarnate the next; Ron Perlman whose volatility is the only predictable element in the film. It has a compelling electronic soundtrack and visions of contemporary Los Angeles filled with mini-malls, cheap apartments, run-down garages and rides along the Los Angeles River. It has Danish director Nicolas Winding Refn who punctuates his deliberate pace with punches of violence.
Although Gosling says very little, he manages to dominate every scene with a look, a gesture. His name is Driver and by day, he either works in a garage or is a stunt driver in movies and he moonlights as a wheelman. After befriending Irene (Mulligan), a neighbor whose husband is in prison, and her young son, Driver finds himself in an awkward position when the husband, Standard (Oscar Isaac), is released and comes home. Driver impulsively offers to help Standard in a scheme to help steal $1 million from a pawnshop to pay back a prison debt, but when things go wrong, he follows his own code of honor. Unfortunately, violence, lots of it, drives “Drive.” A heist gone bad puts blood on the walls. So does a beating Driver delivers with a hammer at a strip joint and with his foot in an elevator. There’s a death caused by a fork and a wicked-looking knife. Needless to say, there’s a lot of blood and gore and it didn’t have to be so obvious. “Drive” is worth seeing. You might, however, want to avoid looking at the blood and gore. 9/17/11
1 comment:
There are lots of reasons to like this movie and also a lot of reasons not to. The film boasts of some fine acting with Ryan Gosling leading the way with able assistance from Carrie Mulligan, Ron Pearlman and Albert Brooks. The Problem is the gratuitous (needless) violence (bloody awful) and the lack of chemistry between Gosling and Mulligan.I was left a little shell-shocked as the characters sliced, diced and blasted there way through this attemp to recreate film noir from the 40's. This film could have been better if it was shot in black and white and if they brought back Robert Mitchum to star.
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