If Steve McQueen played De Niro's part in Taxi Driver, well sort of...

Rating: 10/10 (20 September 2011)

Only "Steve" (Ryan Gosling) along with his cool and controlled under fire demeanor shows his closet psychopath in some scenes which shocked and then confused me as to what kind of guy Gosling's character really was.
Another mismatch that confused the hell out of me is the "Driver" character shows great skills at driving and working on cars but terrible reading when a person's about to kill him.
Sometimes the "Driver" acts like an innocent, lost boy in some parts of the movie, switches to nerves of steel and genius behind the wheel, then stomps the hell out of guy's head and uses a claw hammer on another. But then didn't we all think that of Deniro's "Travis Bickle" in Taxi Driver excluding the '70's "French Connection" and "The 7-UP's" car chases?
Or maybe he's so crazy he doesn't know who he really is or doesn't care to know and just rolls with whatever is thrown at him and adjusts his state of mind accordingly in order to cope. I know the complex situation he's put in as the plot unfolds would probably make me act like that as well. The plot is pretty brilliant on its own which actually does most of the driving in this movie and supports Gosling's character's multiple personalities.
Don't you think it takes a very well made movie to get someone to wonder about a character's intentions like that and have that conversation even after viewing the movie?
And that's why I gave it 10 out of 10. It's a very smart movie with minimalist acting (similar to Bruce Willis' stillness style used in "The Sixth Sense") that complements the action and violence sequences you never see coming. The tension craftily built up in the movie is just incredible.