Way back when I saw Ryan Gosling in “Half Nelson” I thought he was a phenomenal actor. I still think so. “Drive” is an intense movie and Gosling, the flawed hero, held my attention in a vice grip throughout the film. I expected an action movie with a lot of car chases that I’d forget by the next day. I never would’ve guessed it was one of the most elegant, car chase, shoot ’em up, bad-guy-turns-hero stories I’ve ever seen.
Gosling and Director Nicolas Winding Refn convert long moments of stillness into tension. I looked up Refn and was surprised to see how young he is. He was born in Copenhagen, Denmark in 1970. I googled his filmography and didn’t recognize any of the films. Our friend was familiar with Refn’s “Pusher” trilogy—a European hit and said, “The faces of the criminals were the most fascinating things on the screen because it took place in L.A. which is virtually one giant strip mall.”
At times during the film Gosling’s face fills the screen, unmoving, yet communicating so much high drama. Very impressive. One reviewer, Zachary Wigon said, “In an era where genre films are so popular they dominate not only Hollywood but arty independent cinema as well, it’s nice to see an inverse domination occur: a Hollywood genre film overrun with the formalist precision and stylistic emphasis typically reserved for art movies.”
The synopsis of “Drive” on Fandango read:
“Filled with easy money, fast cars and beautiful women, Frank’s life as a drug dealer is perfect until the police catch him en route to deliver a large bag of heroin.” Sold, I’m ready to watch it on DVD.
Carey Mulligan does a great job in her role as Gosling’s neighbor. I’ve always thought of Mulligan as a tad too cute, but in this film she’s a serious actress whose chops will surely be taken seriously by all the critics.
Drive, hop, skip or jump to this movie right away unless you have a queasy stomach, in which case you better skip it. There are quite a few violent, creepy and even disgusting scenes but I love that sort of thing in a flick. Warning: Very realistic sound effects when one guy’s heads splits open like a watermellon on pavement.