Not bad, but overly self-indulgent.

Rating: 6/10 (15 August 2013)

Director Nicolas Winding Refns' film of the James Sallis novel makes for fairly good entertainment. The basic story is decent, but Refn takes it all just a little too seriously, and his pacing will likely test the patience of some viewers. He really loves to stretch out his moments. He and his star Ryan Gosling work overtime to give both the film and the unnamed main character a sense of cool, but overall the main character just isn't that interesting, despite the fact that he can morph from soft spoken dude to brutal bad ass at the drop of a dime. Still, it's all attractively shot on various L.A. locations, and the supporting cast makes it worth watching. The brief bursts of graphic violence are a little jarring, but this viewer personally doesn't have a problem with that sort of thing.
Made sort of in the style of Walter Hills' under-rated 1978 thriller "The Driver", "Drive" stars Gosling as a young man who clearly likes to keep busy, functioning as a part-time mechanic, a part-time car stunt specialist for the movies, and a part-time getaway driver for hire. Usually a careful individual, he only buys himself trouble when he becomes attracted to Irene (Carey Mulligan), who lives in his building with a young son, Benicio (Kaden Leos). Irenes' former jailbird husband "Standard" (Oscar Isaac) is in trouble with goons who are trying to force him to take a robbery gig; The Driver oddly decides to do Standard a favour and participate in the robbery. Of course, things don't go as planned.
The film does benefit from the kind of pulse quickening action scenes that you would expect from any film titled "Drive". Some of the dialogue is punchy, and delivered to perfection by co-star Albert Brooks, who has fun with a good part as a gangster. Bryan Cranston of 'Breaking Bad' fame is also excellent as The Drivers' friend at the garage. Ron Perlman is typically amusing as Brooks's associate, and it's nice to see screen veteran Russ Tamblyn ("West Side Story", "The Haunting") in a brief appearance. Mulligan is both cute and appealing as the female lead.
"Drive" is ultimately much more of a character driven crime drama than action film in the end, and while some may find it too slow and too pretentious, it does adequately entertain with a number of good moments, and the performances help to keep it watchable.
Six out of 10.