When Drive was screened at the Cannes Film Festival this past May, it received a standing ovation and Nicholas Winding Refn won the award for Best Director. The critical buzz was building in anticipation of the film's wide release. Does Drive live up to the hype? In the opinion of this humble cinephile, I answer with a resounding, "Yes."
Ryan Gosling stars as the protagonist who known only in the credits as Driver. By day, he works part-time as a stunt driver for movie shoots. At night, he's a wheelman for heists with a preternatural ability while in the driver's seat. He also works at a garage owned by his only friend Shannon (Bryan Cranston), who provides him with the vehicles he needs. He wants to provide one more in a stock car to start the Driver off on a professional racing career. In order to do so, Shannon borrows money from Nino (Ron Perlman) and Bernie Rose (Albert Brooks), a pair of Jewish mobsters who operate out of a strip mall pizzeria.
The normally aloof Driver finds himself bonding with his neighbor Irene (Carey Mulligan) and her young son Benicio (Kaden Leos). The future looks bright until Irene's husband, Standard (Oscar Isaac), is released from prison. With his family threatened, Standard is forced into pulling a robbery in order to repay a gangster known as Cook (James Biberi) for protecting him while behind bars. Driver agrees to help in order to save Irene and Benicio. The job naturally goes south leading Driver down a road paved by blood and bodies.
Drive is obvious in its influences. Chief among them is Walter Hill's The Driver, which also featured an unnamed getaway man played by Ryan O'Neal. Both movies are also descendents of the existential crime films of Jean-Pierre Melville with their taciturn lead characters searching for a purpose in their empty lives. Gosling's Driver finds the purpose he desperately needed with Irene and Benicio. The choice to leave the character unnamed wasn't made just to evoke the similarly unnamed stranger from the Westerns of Sergio Leone and Clint Eastwood, but to establish his anonymity. As a stunt man, Driver will never be the hero of that movie. He can only pretend to be the hero, donning a grotesque mask to do so. As the protector of his broken family, Driver can finally be the hero of his own story. The Driver moniker also highlights just how much his identity is tied into the car. There's a Zen quality to the way in which Driver connects with his automobiles, preferring a spartan existence on the road. Would that he could live his life forever behind a steering wheel.
Thematically, Drive owes much to the films of the 70's, but the look and feel is pure retro-80's right down to the neon pink cursive font used for the titles. The soundtrack is comprised of synthpop and an electronic score by Cliff Martinez that is meant to evoke 80's staples like Vangelis and Tangerine Dream. Cinematographer Newton Thomas Sigel (who has shot all of Bryan Singer's films) captures Los Angeles with the same beauty and gritty atmosphere of pictures like William Friedkin's To Live and Die in L.A. and Michael Mann's Thief. Sigel alternates from gorgeous aerial shots of the city at night to roaring intimately through the side streets inside the Driver's muscle cars. This is a film that was meant to be seen on the big screen.
Even the chaste love story of the Driver and Irene borrows heavily from the 80's oeuvre of John Hughes. Both Gosling and Refn have described "Drive" as a violent version of Pretty in Pink or Sixteen Candles. The Driver himself looks like he stepped right out of a time warp from twenty years ago. His favored wardrobe consists of a puffy satin jacket, leather driving gloves, and a toothpick in the corner of his mouth. It's obvious he's trying to emulate the coolness of the screen idols he admired as a youth.
Gosling gives a remarkable performance as the taciturn Driver. Over the last few years, Gosling has launched himself onto another level beyond just "that guy from The Notebook." He's taken on memorable roles in heavy indie dramas like Half-Nelson and Blue Valentine along with showing a natural talent for comedy, both broad (Crazy Stupid Love) and quirky (Lars and the Real Girl). In Drive, Gosling proves himself to be a believable action star. Given a minimal amount of dialogue, Gosling speaks volumes through simple facial expressions. The squeaking of his leather gloves as he tightens his fist says more than any florid soliloquy. While Driver's relationship with Irene is an important one, it is the burgeoning bond between him and Benicio that is pivotal to the narrative. Gosling conveys this perfectly in a scene where the two engage in a staring contest. A slight smile breaks across Driver's face to show how this boy has broken through the man's detached exterior. Yet, this stoic demeanor belies a shocking capacity for violence. He strikes with the suddenness of the scorpion emblazoned on the back of his jacket.
Those familiar some of Refn's previous pictures like Bronson and Valhalla Rising will know that the director has a predilection for stylish violence. That trait is present in Drive as quiet moments give way to explosive acts of brutality. A tender kiss in slow motion between Driver and Irene leads right into a gruesome sequence in which he practically obliterates an assailant's skull by reigning down one merciless stomp after another. Refn never tries to outdo the classic car chases of Bullitt or The French Connection. His set pieces aren't as elaborate, but they are sleek and clever. In the gripping opening of the film, Driver evades the cops through guile rather than sheer horsepower. He parks the car by the curb and switches off the lights. Seconds later, he nonchalantly follows behind a police car obliviously waving its searchlight in every other direction.
Drive is Gosling's show all the way though he is backed up by a tremendous supporting cast. Bryan Cranston is excellent as is the lovely Christina Hendricks, even if her appearance amounts to all of five minutes. As a 21st century Audrey Hepburn, Mulligan has the innocent look and sweet nature to breathe life into a character that is thinly defined on the page. It's easy to see why the stone cold Driver would fall for her. To no surprise, Ron Perlman makes for an effective villain, but it is Albert Brooks who is cast against type as a menacing mobster. He possesses a genial nature that conceals a frightening propensity for violence. Much like the Driver, he strikes quickly and suddenly.
It is not often you will find an action movie that could be considered an exquisite work of art. Then again, movies like Drive aren't often made. Don't expect Drive to be another The Fast and the Furious or The Transporter, it is a more cerebral and visceral experience. This is arthouse action at its finest, a modern day film noir of vehicular masculinity.
Rating: **** (*****)
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