A Contemporary 1980's Throwback That Is Awesome.

Rating: 9/10 (11 August 2014)

Few mainstream movies manage to capture the "Midnight Movie" experience anymore, let alone throw back to some idioms that were well established in the 1970's & 1980's. "Drive" is a fantastic movie that stands well on it's own two feet. Without directly saying it there feels plenty of influence to take from it's imagery, most notably Steve McQueen's "Bullitt" (1968), and Walter Hill's "The Driver" (1978). The opening scenes set the style of the movie perfectly, accompanied by a fantastic font choice and possibly 2012's most stellar movie soundtrack (Props to former Red Hot Chili drummer, Cliff Martinez).
Having read the original novel by James Sallis, I can confidently say it deviates from the original source material slightly without effecting it's overall premise. For the movie they incorporate some romantic interest subplot that never felt right to me, but lends itself to incorporate some stellar shots of both of them together. It's beautiful cinematography, but personally I never felt all too engaged by it (Except for the "Elevator" scene).
What is engaging however, is Ryan Gosling's performance as "The Driver". I love the fact that both the movie and book never use a name, as it all builds some kind of mythic aspect like Clint Eastwood's "Man With No Name". Carrey Mulligan is charming what little screen time she has, and the same goes for Christina Hendricks, Bryan Cranston and Ron Pearlman. All are heavy hitters that again do well with what they have, but without doubt Albert Brooks performance as Bernie Rose is both subtle and brilliant. How that man did not win an Oscar, let alone not get nominated is beyond me.
If there's anything more to say about "Drive", it's that I'm very glad it circulated many festivals before (I think) a limited film release. In this day and age where common audience members expect to have emotions and feelings fed to you through tedious dialogue, "Drive" is all the more impressive for not having to directly address that when it clearly shows up on the screen. I would also normally hate that in a modern movie, but the execution in "Drive" speaks volumes and makes it all more than bearable. Making me somewhat a little more optimistic should we see more of it.
Final Verdict: Props to Nicolas Winding Refn for making a great movie. Definitely one of the best from 2011, and I very much recommend it. 9/10.