Brutally beautiful

Rating: 9/10 (29 September 2011)

What's more intimidating than Albert Brooks and Ron Perlman as violent Jewish gangsters? Nothing. That's what. Don't believe me? Then watch the film Drive, one of the highest quality films to come out this year. It stars Ryan Gosling as our nameless protagonist. He's a young man who has a job as a Hollywood stunt driver during the day, but moonlights as a getaway driver, constantly putting his life on the line to make a few extra bucks for himself and his partner in crime, Shannon, played by Bryan Cranston. Things operate smoothly until a heist goes terribly wrong and Gosling finds himself with a million dollars in cash of someone else's money. The rest of the film delivers some of the most intense, violent, and artfully magnificent filmmaking you will see this year.
Drive has a very quiet brilliance to it which is conveyed through masterful artistic style which remains consistent through every shot and every intensely gripping moment of the film. It's easy to see what Drive sets out to be. It is an art film which also has to be cool. And cool it is. In fact, there's hardly a better world to describe Drive than just... cool. The execution of the film is so smooth and so powerful in the way every single moment of the film is played off in a brilliantly exciting way. Drive is a film that does everything in its power to be as wickedly intense as possible, while not being melodramatic or over exaggerated. It plays its action up at such a tasteful level, compelling us to be entranced by every haunting second of it. It is stunning how well the tone of the film is established and how perfectly it is kept up from start to finish.
Drive is a film that is all about style, but it most certainly doesn't lack the substance to complement the style. Drive tells a great story with great characters that play the specific roles of this crime/drama/romance/thriller flick perfectly. And it goes without saying that the acting of Drive's all star cast backs up the characters very nicely. Ryan Gosling couldn't have been any cooler. He plays off every moment of the film with such a calm, collected, smooth, and sexy persona that we can't help but become so invested in his harrowing story. The film's supporting cast are all superb as well. Carey Mulligan, Bryan Cranston, and Ron Perlman are all insanely good and, as far as Albert Brooks goes, all I can say is that he better make room on his shelves for that Oscar statuette.
Drive is a frighteningly good film. After seeing it you won't be able to forget how cool it was and just how thrillingly awesome every moment of the film was. You won't be able to shake the horrific glory of the film's intense style and you won't be able to put some of those gruesome shots out of your mind. You won't be able to stop singing the film's wicked soundtrack in your head. You won't be able to stop thinking about the brilliant characters and the ridiculously incredible actors who portrayed them. You will not forget the movie Drive.