A style that's hard to resist.

Rating: 8/10 (13 July 2013)

The greatest thing that can be said about Drive is that it would have been a completely different film if it were not helmed by Nicolas Winding Refn. The film takes a story we're familiar with in movies, a guy gets mixed up with the wrong kind of people and has to take matter into his own hands. Its a rather typical plot, but the film doesn't try to be anything different than that. Instead, Refn chooses to give each moment such life and style that it draws us in.
Ryan Gosling stars as a man simply known as Driver, because we don't find out what his name is. We don't know anything about the man for he maintains this constant aura of ambiguity. We only know a few things about this character: He experiences joy when he's around his neighbor Irene (Carey Mulligan) and her son, he has an intense burning hatred inside of him and he's very good at his job. Gosling is wonderful in keeping his character mysterious, cool, collected, meticulous and intense.
Driver and his partner Shannon (wonderfully played by Bryan Cranston) get themselves involved with a couple of mobsters, delightfully played by Albert Brooks and Ron Perlman. Brooks's Bernie Rose makes for an interesting villain. He isn't afraid of anybody, he cares about his money and his ego and he has a thing for knives and other stabbing weapons. The film takes an interesting stance in down-playing the use of guns, only using them in a couple of key scenes.
The film is technically very impressive, nearly every frame of the picture contains blue and orange hues, which Refn must have visioned for this film. Even the green street lights have a blue tint to them, and the glow of the orange street lights reflect off of the character's faces in a wonderful fashion. Cliff Martinez uses a wonderful somber score which adds to the quiet moments of the film, while more pronounced moments feature synth pop songs which adds to the allusion to 80's crime films.
Refn deservedly won the Best Director prize for this film at the Cannes film festival. He creates a wonderful vision to a rather standard crime film and appreciates the quiet, personal moments of the film while brutalizing the violent aspects of the film in Tarantino fashion. Violence can erupt from a moment of quietness, much like the boiling intensity can seep through the innocent gaze of Driver.