Driven

Rating: Null/10 (18 February 2017)

A stunt driver's life is thrown into disarray after befriending a lonely young mother and her son in this crime drama directed by Nicolas Winding Refn and starring Ryan Gosling. 'Drive' is a curious to film watch with Refn's subsequent features fresh in mind. With a more traditional narrative than 'Only God Forgives' and 'The Neon Demon', it is little wonder that audiences took more kindly to this earlier film than Refn's follow-up efforts, however, Refn excels when directing sequences that are dreamy, nightmarish and mysterious and there are less such sequences here due to the more conventional narrative. That said, 'Drive' is still very visually alluring with its nighttime shots set to Cliff Martinez's atmospheric score standing out in particular. Gosling is also more compelling here than in 'Only God Forgives' despite playing a character equally as laconic with equally sketchy background details. The connection he makes with the mother and her son always feels very real with little need for small talk between them. A montage of the trio playing by a lake is way too cute, blatant and unnecessary, but generally speaking, the bond between them radiates in remarkably subtle ways. The limited background for Gosling's character (only ever known as 'The Kid') work fairly well too. Of course, one desperately wants to know more about how he ticks, but by keeping him at a distance, it makes it easier for Refn to spin here what could be considered a parable for the chaos that comes into one's life with a partner and child to support.