Drive

Rating: 7/10 (21 February 2012)

I may have heard about this film a little bit when it was released in cinemas, but I certainly heard about it more when it was nominated awards and released on DVD, it was one I wanted to see, from BAFTA nominated director Nicolas Winding Refn (Bronson). Basically a mysterious and unnamed Driver (Ryan Gosling) works three car related jobs, the two normal day to day are as a car mechanic and as a Hollywood movie stuntman, the nighttime job though has danger as he is an anonymous getaway driver for various criminals. He wants to escape his shady life, he has ideas to run his own garage business and live a more normal life, and this becomes more a priority when he meets and falls for Irene (BAFTA nominated Carey Mulligan), whose husband is in prison, and she looks after her son in the apartment next door. His boss as the garage Shannon (Bryan Cranston) is the one who arranges his other jobs, and he is putting together a race team using gangland money, and he needs the Driver to be involved as the main racer to compete. Mobster Bernie Rose (Golden Globe nominated Albert Brooks) is persuaded to put his money on the Driver's skills, and his Jewish business partner Nino (Hellboy's Ron Perlman) is involved in the deal as well, of course the Driver gets more than he bargained for. As the Driver tries to avoid trouble with the mobsters, he starts spending more time with Irene and her son Benicio (Kaden Leos), and he eventually meets her husband Standard (Oscar Isaac) after he comes home from prison. Standard owes money from protection to gangster Cook (James Biberi), and the criminal threatens him to rob a pawn shop or his wife and child will be hurt, so the Driver agrees to help him pay off the debt, and also joining them is Blanche (Christina Hendricks). But the job goes wrong, Standard is shot dead, but the Driver gets away with Blanche and the money, more than expected, and he is sure she is involved with those chasing them, she is killed when they get to a motel, but he kills the two men who were after them. The Driver finds out Nino sent a hit-man to kill him, Irene and Benicio, but he is killed in the elevator, and meanwhile Bernie and Nino find out the money at the pawn shop was for the East Coast mafia, and those who know about it, Cook and Shannon have to be killed. The Driver manages to catch up to Nino, and wearing his fire proof latex mask he drowns him in the Pacific Ocean, and after calling Bernie to arrange a meeting in a Chinese restaurant he calls Irene to say goodbye. Bernie promises Irene and Benicio will be safe if the Driver gives him the money, but in the parking lot the criminal stabs him, but the Driver stabs him back and kills him, and Irene doesn't know that the Driver drives away into the night, supposedly never to be seen again. Also starring Russ Tamblyn as Doc. As the man with no name who hardly speaks and is a whizz behind the wheel Gosling gives a pretty good performance, and even though she could have been on more Mulligan is good too, I can see the resemblance to films like The Transporter and Taxi Driver, I will admit the gangster stuff was a little confusing, but overall it is an interesting revenge action drama. It was nominated the Oscar for Best Sound Editing, and it was nominated the BAFTAs for Best Editing and Best Film. Very good!