It's a sleek and thrilling action film, but it's got plenty of emotional appeal and ideas too

Rating: 8/10 (18 February 2020)

There's no one concrete element of Drive that makes it so fun - it's the constant atmosphere of the film pulling you into the driver's world. Much like another beloved action film of the decade and recent memory, Mad Max: Fury Road, Drive is an action movie that does an excellent job with the essentials but also is intelligent and engaging. Drive trades out the apocalyptic world-building and analogies of Mad Max for modern city and crime life. It also has some elements similar to Nightcrawler or even Taxi Driver, as loners very committed to what they do but struggling to make human connection. Drive is a clever meta-commentary on traditional action tropes, as the driver's masculinity and determination to get the job done is ever-present. I love the scorpion/frog fable as a metaphor for how people can't avoid doing what's in their nature, and love the line where the driver asks why sharks can't be good guys. The movie rests on the ability to convincingly sell the driver, which is a tall task, but Gosling is up to it. He has to command scenes with intensity and power despite hardly ever speaking, and he does an amazing job. His slow but purposeful statements and facial expressions allow him to control the gravity of the situations, even with some heavy hitters. The score and cinematography are great, adding to the city atmosphere with synth-heavy beats and neon lights. The emotional beats hit well enough - the driver is too deep in his life of being a driver and forgoing any emotions to completely avoid violence, even as he knows it'll lose him Irene. The elevator scene is a sad one, as is the ending with him driving away, knowing Irene will be better off without him. The selfishness and obsession with money, taking any angle possible to screw others over, fit in as a solid mob crime movie. Drive is a movie that manages to be extremely entertaining and feel like fine art, and that's a powerful combination.