Drive is worth the ride. It's an amazing movie.

Rating: 8/10 (29 June 2016)

Life is like a bumpy road. After a while, you just have to learn to drive on it. 2011's 'Drive' shows that. Directed by Nicolas Winding Refn, and based on a 2005 novel of the same name by author James Sallis. The movie tells the story of a mysterious nameless getaway driver for robberies (Ryan Gosling), trying hard to get away from the criminal enterprise that he stuck in, as a Hollywood stunt car driver. He sees his chance of a new life, when he fall in love, with his neighbor, Irene (Carey Mulligan), and her young son, Benicio (Kaden Leos). However, Irene's ex con-husband, Standard (Oscar Isaac) own a large debt to some dangerous mobsters, Nino (Ron Perlman) & Bernie Rose (Albert Brooks), that puts everything that the driver is hoping for, in jeopardy. Can, the driver live a quiet, simple, peaceful life, or will his dreams be shatter by the harsh reality of a life of crime? Watch the movie to find out! Without spoiling the movie, too much, the first thing, most people notice about this film, is the lack of car chases. After all, you would think, a movie call 'drive', would be full of action scenes like that. The trailers give the impression that the film is a straight car chase thriller similar to 2001's 'The Fast and the Furious', when it actually features quite a lot of quiet drama scenes sprinkled amongst the bone-crunching violence. One woman even try to sue because she didn't receive the movie, she wanted. Instead, the movie is more focus on the character development of Ryan Gosling's character, from isolated bad guy to a man trying to be the hero, despite being driven to a life of crime. You see this, with the film metaphor of the famous "frog and the scorpion" fable, in how it relates to his associates. No wonder, why he wears that cool neon scorpion jacket, all of the time as if he's a frog. I like the director approached to a typically American crime genre with its silence, but deadly Euro-chic sensibility and style. He paints a very realistic picture of grimy landscape of dark, neo-noir, seedy underbelly of the modern LA with his mise-en-scene style. From his amazing shots, and lighting, comes a great impression of what characters are thinking, without the mastery of a lot of dialogue. While, some people might see that, as somewhat boring to see, two people stare blankly at each other in long cuts, both in romanticism and in crime drama. In my opinion, there is no better, example of great use of that, then the surrealistic scene in the elevator. It's really shows, the complexity of light of hope versus dark of destruction, all while maintaining the consistent mood, tone, and look of the film, until the climactic end, which furthermore, spark the audience member to think, even if 2012's direct sequel novel 'Driven', kinda spoils it. It is not often that a filmmaker is able to do that. The film's soundtrack is also amazing with electropop songs like "Nightcall" by Kavinsky & "A Real Hero" by College & Electric Youth. A mix of earnest '80s-synth-inspired tunes and original pieces by composer, Cliff Martinez were also worth listening to. Drive also has the ability to be one of those movies that reminds us of other movies like 1963's 'Scorpio Rising', 1967's 'Point Blank', 1968's 'Bullitt', 1978's 'The Driver', 1981's 'Thief" and others. Yet overall, I thought the film was less about making direct homages than blending its influences together into fascinating hybrids. So, it was no surprised to see the movie being set in Los Angeles. There is also theories online about the film, being a spiritual sequel to 2012's film, 'The Place beyond the Pines'. Anyways, I enjoyed Ryan Gosling's enigmatic, messiah complex, type of a character. He has the right amount of graceful swagger and sex appeal to pull off, a character, that look tough and sinister, but also has a bit of a heart, while speaking fewer than twenty full sentences. I like how the film didn't spoil his mysterious character, outright like the novel, did. There's a moment past the midway point of the film in which his character looks at Mulligan's Irene with a mixture of self-awareness and confusion as if he was a small child, who knew he upset somebody. It's the expression of a man who knows he's a shark and wonders if he can be a good one, without speaking one word. Gosling and Mulligan have an incredible chemistry, which is impressive when you consider how little they actually speak to each other. Each actor manages to say more with a glance or an awkward smile than most do with pages worth of dialogue to work with. Still, I wish, the movie would had hired a Hispanic actress for the role as Irina, as it would focus the book, more. Despite that, Mulligan does a wonderful job. So, it was little lost. Albert Brooks is also wonderful. He achieves a level of intimidating menace that hasn't really been seen from him before. Ron Perlman is reliable as ever, but not as memorable as Brooks. Maybe, because he's more typecast as these types of a role. Bryan Cranston effortlessly applies a lot of heart to his supporting role as Driver's boss and loyal friend, Shannon. Behind Brooks, he's probably the second most memorable supporting character in the film. Overall: I have to say, the excellent synth-pop soundtrack, great performances and the juxtaposition of beauty and shocking violence, ensure that Drive will become an instant cult-classic for years to come. It's a must-watch for any fan of neo-noir. Highly recommended.