Subpar pacing, still great

Rating: 7/10 (15 December 2013)

Seeing the trailer and plot of the film, I was really surprised with the kind of movie it turned out to be. From the looks of it, I expected a run-off-the-mill heist movie. But "Drive" is much more, it is a crime drama, a Tarantino-style pop-culture reference and overall a good movie. But to me, it fails to be one thing: well paced.
After a very interesting opening that introduces Ryan Gosling's "driver" and his skills, the movie starts to slog through about an hour of exposition, which (don't get me wrong) isn't necessarily bad, but a bit overlong, taking away time from the slightly rushed finale. What really bored me at times was the lack of dialog. I know that the Driver was intended to be "a character that mostly communicates non-verbally", but it seemed to me that he doesn't communicate at all. Most appearances of Gosling's character along with Carey Mulligan's Irene are more awkward than romantic or interesting.
This is neither Gosling's or Mulligan's fault, who on the contrary did an amazing job. This too can be said for most actors in this movie, especially Bryan Cranston. Most characters are well written and equally well performed.
But after the slow start "Drive" finally gets to business and shows its true strengths. The remainder of the movie is visually great, the story unfolds and twists nicely and Ryan Gosling gets to show his acting skills. Without wanting to give too much away, the big finale is disappointingly obscure compared to the graphic nature of the film before. But the film ends with a very memorable scene, marking its spot as one of the most interesting films of 2011.
"Drive" may be too subtle for many fans of normal action movies; marketing it as a heist movie certainly didn't help. But anyone who considers him- or herself a movie enthusiast should definitely check out this little gem at least once. I was positively surprised by it and I am certainly glad that I stumbled upon it.