Bleak but beautiful crime cinema

Rating: 10/10 (17 March 2014)

Drive was the darling of the Cannes film festival in 2011 and the breakthrough for its visionary director Nicolas Winding Refn. Refn, whom is previously known for his gritty Pusher trilogy and his heavily experimental Bronson and Valhalla rising,pushes genre limits in this stunning urban fairytale about a getaway driver who assists his ex-con neighbor pull of a robbery after falling in love with his wife. Drive is genre bending, it takes inspiration from early westerns and 80s noir films, in particular Michael Mann. Although it could be considered "pulpy" drive seems to avoid the cheese and instead opts for occasional outbursts of extreme violence and unrelenting tension. Gosling is on fine form as the nameless driver who is at times heroic and horrifying. To sum it up drive is a pulsating and aggressive film experience that should not be missed