Great thrill ride

Rating: 8/10 (4 October 2012)

The stereotypical "White Knight" appears in many films, but the role of the Driver ranks as one of the most brutal and explosive, while maintaining heroism to date.
Drive, directed by Nicolas Winding Refn and released on September 16, 2011 in the United States, is a beautiful art-house film reminiscent of the Tarantino's style in Pulp Fiction. Ryan Gosling gives an explosive performance in a movie that is surprisingly but tastefully minimalist.
The film stars Ryan Gosling as the Driver, an unnamed professional driver who holds jobs as mechanic and stunt driver during the day, and has a secret identity as a getaway driver. The Driver meets a girl, Irene (Carey Mulligan), in his apartment elevator and falls in love with her, even though she is married and her husband, Standard (Oscar Isaac), is in jail. After the two have bonded and everything seems to be going well, Standard returns from jail with a debt to pay, which jeopardizes the safety of the girl and her son. The Driver decides to help Standard repay his debt and keep Irene and her son safe by driving for a heist being pulled by Standard as repayment.
The cinematography is one of the main factors why the film is so successful. Refn took great care to create an amazingly real experience. During the tensest parts of the film, where a Hollywood movie would have used music to create suspense, Refn relies on the uncomfortable silence (successfully) to create tension. The film is set in gritty Los Angeles and has intertextual references to Walter Hill's The Driver through similar plots, setting in downtown Los Angeles, and mainly silent protagonists.
Drive is a great thrill ride that is truly beautiful, and adds a real, believable atmosphere to the world in which it is set. This brutal but tasteful film will be enjoyably experienced by many.