Drive (18)

Film

Thrillers

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

Critics' choice
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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

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Comments & ratings

Rated as: 3/5 (24 ratings)

  • Ryan Gosling, his acting is wicked, this is the film to see brilliant

    sim Sat Sep 24 2011
    Rated as: 5/5
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  • the director has admitted he has seen hills driver but he also mentions manns thief which it is more similar in theme tone i enjoyed it immensley thought the soundtrack was memorable not available for months thought the breaking mad stars were underused but brooks was real suprise against type the violence was bum clenching the only film that comes close is the infamous extinguisher scene from irreversable and finally carey muliigan undoubtely the greates weeping actoress in the world but no one drips off a nose as well as her

    JOHNOSULLIVAN Tue Sep 20 2011
    Rated as: 4/5
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  • Funny, Joshua Rothkopf gave this five stars in Time Out NY. It's brilliant and you've completely missed the boat. Luckily, I live in NY. But, to each his own. Cheers.

    aloneconformist Sun Sep 18 2011
    Rated as: 5/5
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  • Unfortunately yet another off the mark review from TIME OUT. Also please can you alter the CSS for this comment box as the text is way too small, this is 2011 not the 90s. Anyway - to the film at hand. Drive is a flawed film but packs one hell of a punch. Whilst the cinematography, settings, music and tone provide a wonderful norish atmosphere to absorb yourself in there are too many longeurs which differentiates 'Drive' from the tautness of similar Mann fare. However there are moments of genuis - notably some of the incredibly loud sound design of gunfire and also the extreme violence which makes for a shocking experience in parts. Perhaps it's all too much style for some but I found Drive sometimes exhilarating, often shocking and sometimes so violent I laughed out loud.

    Justin Berkovi Tue Sep 13 2011
    Rated as: 4/5
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  • I saw a preview of this and fell asleep! It's boring and horribly violent. I think the director likes Carey Mulligan's little nose. I'm sick of seeing tears spill out of her eyes - has she done this in every film I've seen her in? I'm dying to see Ryan Gosling in something where he lives up to his hype. The older actors were the best thing about this nasty tedious film. Yuck.

    Boredfilmgoer Sun Aug 28 2011
    Rated as: 1/5
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  • What a joy to find such clear thinking. Thnkas for posting!

    What a joy to find such c Tue May 31 2011
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