Drive (18)

Film

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Drive

Drive RICHARD FOREMAN JR SMPSP

Time Out rating:

<strong>Rating: </strong>4/5

User ratings:

<strong>Rating: </strong>3/5
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Time Out says

Tue Sep 20 2011

It’s been noted before that the irony of film noir was that it came from one of the sunniest places on earth – California. But while the original noir directors went to great lengths to mask the sunlit beauty of their surroundings, from the late ’60s another set of filmmakers took the staple elements of the genre – brooding heroes, gun-crazy villains, desperate dames – and brought them out into the light, making noir simultaneously more glossy, more vivid and, paradoxically, a whole lot colder.

The truly great ‘LA noir’ movies – ‘Point Blank’, ‘The Driver’, ‘Straight Time’, ‘To Live and Die in LA’, ‘Heat’ – share common characteristics beyond the basic clichés of the crime genre. These are movies informed by the city in which they were made, a city constructed of gleaming surfaces – six-lane highways, vast industrial wastelands and endless suburban sprawl – and a place where crime is grubby and small-time, carried out by empty, hopeless loners in hock to dapper despots with unpredictable personalities.

It’s in this world that we find the near-silent hero of ‘Drive’, Nicolas Winding Refn’s self-consciously slick, synth-scored throwback. Ryan Gosling plays the unnamed Driver, a mechanic and occasional getaway guy whose life is overturned when he meets Irene (Carey Mulligan), a struggling mum with a husband in the joint.


As all the above implies, this is a film built on familiarity, in terms of narrative and style: neon lights flash, rubber tyres screech, Gosling broods, Mulligan swoons and a trio of wisecracking, overdressed character actors – Albert Brooks, Ron Perlman and Bryan Cranston – provide both levity and dramatic weight. But ‘Drive’ never drags: this is an entirely welcome riff on old material, a pulse-pounding, electronically enhanced cover version of a beloved standard. Sure, it’s shallow, but it’s also slickly compelling, beautifully crafted and so damn shiny.

Author: Tom Huddleston

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Release details

Rated:

18

UK release:

Fri Sep 23 2011

Duration:

100 mins

Cast and crew

Cast:

Albert Brooks, Christina Hendricks, Ryan Gosling, Ron Perlman, Carey Mulligan

Director:

Nicolas Winding Refn

Cinemas showing Drive

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Comments & ratings

Rated as: 3/5 (24 ratings)

  • Agree with longcat and blaize67 - I've no idea what this was trying to do or what it was aiming to be as a film. Crud was what it ended up as. The best part of this trip was finding dozens of big fat chestnuts beside the path on my way back to my car!

    If a critic recommends it Fri Sep 30 2011
    Rated as: 1/5
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  • What a boring heap of crap this movie is. It could've lasted five minutes. Long drawn out scenes without dialogue and then a burst of gratuitout violence. and more meaningless gazing into each others eyes claptrap. Ryan Gosling is brilliant in Crazy Stupid Love but in this one he is wasted.

    long cat Thu Sep 29 2011
    Rated as: 1/5
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  • I agree with the comment that the one thing this does not have is DRIVE! Slow, gratuitous and poorly scripted. If you want to nsee Gosling and Mulligan staring into each others eyes with an occassional splash of gore this is for you. A rip off.

    Blaize67 Thu Sep 29 2011
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  • Initial strong silent smiling, gives way to intense staring. The alternative title is "Ryan Gosling's Eyes" as we zoom in on close up 100 of his face. Graphic.. bloody... violence. Been done already. If I still took mind altering drugs it could be just a flipside away from a spoof comedy. Found the soundtrack really invasive at times and quite inappropriate for some scenes. I felt it just tried too hard

    Ian Pollock Wed Sep 28 2011
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  • True, there is much here that is derivative, particularly of Michael Mann, but the movie creates its own unique feel. Stylish and interesting but I`d question the suitability of one explicitly violent scene in particular.

    critique Wed Sep 28 2011
    Rated as: 3/5
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  • I really enjoyed this film, which was only marred by the excessive violence. The film is fast paced and stylishly shot. Gosling and supporting characters, particularly Brooks, are excellent. There are unanswered questions, such as the Driver’s motives, but that is a minor quibble. Good movie.

    Sutton Mon Sep 26 2011
    Rated as: 4/5
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  • If you didn't like this, you'll love Fast and Furious/Transporter. This film doesn't spoon feed or cater for those people who are happy to sit on the edge of a seat which you pay the full price for. This film's daring, and drive you crazy with love, or mad with disappointment. p.s. The trailer to this director's last film Valhalla Rising was nothing like the actual film too. I think he likes winding people up.

    Karm Sun Sep 25 2011
    Rated as: 4/5
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  • Reminded me of a very bloody version of old Yank TV series. Mystery man lands up in a new town to befriend a new child/single mother/elderly man/nun each week. The audience seemed to like it but it's a bit of a let down because it doesn't have an ending. Surely, this is the first film of a series with Ryan Gosling playing a variation on Clint's man with no name. He's excellent but his character's a little bit - how can I put this? - mental.

    Phil Ince Sun Sep 25 2011
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  • DRIVE!!! thats whats seriously lacking so slow stupid 80s soundtrack & very dull yawn

    r rabbit Sun Sep 25 2011
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  • rubbish, so slow, poor acting, weird soundtrack, nothing like the trailer. waste of money

    hj Sun Sep 25 2011
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