Drive is the best action film of 2011

Rating: 10/10 (1 March 2014)

The Driver is a man without a past. He doesn't have a name. But, he has 3 occupations. At night, he moonlights for a getaway driver for robberies. At day, he is a stunt driver for major, big-budget Hollywood movies and a auto mechanic. But, he's alone.
Add that, smart script-writing and energetic action sequences that really pushes this movie to the max. Drive is a very entertaining film mainly because it revolved around only one character and several others. The Driver (Ryan Gosling) doesn't talk much and doesn't seem to have any relationship with anyone or anything of his past. He works three jobs. At day, he's a Hollywood stunt driver for action films. He is also a mechanic and also a best friend to his boss, Shannon (Bryan Cranston). At night, he moonlights as a getaway driver for robberies. His only relationship that he has is only one person. That one person is his neighbor, Irene (Carey Mulligan). Irene is a young mother, who is dragged into the gritty and very dangerous underworld of Los Angeles, mainly because her husband is being released from prison. At first, Irene seems to be attracted to the Driver. But, when the Driver encounters Irene's husband, he becomes a getaway driver for him. Irene's husband wants to knock off a pawnshop and he knows that the Driver is the right man to do the job. After the heist goes wrong and Irene's husband is shot to death, the Driver finds himself driving himself to defense for the girl he loves. Even more worse, he is also being tailgated by a syndicate of deadly criminals. One of them is a local gangster/loan shark named Bernie Rose (Albert Brooks) and the other is Nino (Ron Perlman). Soon, the Driver realizes the gangsters are after him and Irene because of the money that was stolen from the pawnshop robbery. This throws the Driver toward offense as he tries to go after the men who wants to hurt Irene and tear down their relationship.
The movie is photographed like a neo-noir picture because of its shiny and fluorescent lights that illuminates the City of Angels. Drive is one of those movies like Michael Mann's Thief or Manhunter, where the style creates an atmosphere for the movie's premise. It also illustrates how dangerous and violent this underworld is to Irene and especially to the Driver. Those nighttime scenes are very well photographed and very well directed by Nicolas Winding Refn. He sure does know how to create a 1980's atmosphere for a movie that is set in the present era.
Another aspect that makes the movie works is the performances by Ryan Gosling and Albert Brooks. Gosling is right for this role because we can see just how gentle and humble he is when he is first introduced to Irene and her son, Benicio. He is sort playing in the acting field as a young Steve McQueen, where emotionless responses toward the other characters creates a original identity to the Driver. There is also something to point out about Gosling's performance and his presence. He is not playing the pretty boy role that he played in The Notebook. This is particularly way more different than the character he played in that film. Here, he takes the screen by storm. Brooks, on the other hand, is very intimidating as the local gangster who puts the Driver and his girlfriend in danger. Brooks has been playing comedic roles in the 80's with films like Lost in America and Modern Romance. I was very surprised just how scary he was playing Bernie. He is relentless toward the people he distrusts, yet his presence makes the movie works perfectly fine.
The action sequences in Drive are very well choreographed and perhaps probably the car chases I've seen since Steve McQueen got behind his 1968 Ford Mustang Fastback in Bullitt. Refn has said that he shot the car chases without CGI. Well, I can't argue with that statement. So many movies that do included car chases are done by CGI. A lot of them are done very horribly and doesn't generate the kind of energy that is in store with this movie. That's probably why Drive is the best action movie of 2011. It's realism in the chases that creates an energetic response to the audience that is watching it.
All in all, I must say that I enjoyed Drive very much because of the action sequences, the cinematography that makes the movie look like a neo-noir film of the 80's and especially the performances by Gosling and Brooks. You know, after watching Drive, I've been thinking of two things. One is that I like to see another movie like this again. The other thing is that with the exception of Drive consisting of 80's atmosphere, I think that there can be a way to make great movies again. If movie directors can learn from this movie, then films like Drive can extend just how cool it is to create a vibrant style through a decade of film-making. ★★★★ 4 stars.