a beautiful love story disguised as a violent action movie

Rating: 8/10 (9 January 2012)

Certainly, 'Drive' is a thriller. A different and unexpected type of thriller. Whoever has seen this film will remember maybe the story line, and a few action sequences, some of them extremely violent. They will remember first of all the two principal characters and their almost unreal lover story, they will remember the calm and focused look of Ryan Gosling (we never get to know the name of his character, he is just the Driver) which blurs into tenderness when he crosses the restraint smile of Irene (Carey Mulligan). One kiss followed by a violent kill, this is the only physical contact the two will ever make on screen.
It may take a good 30 minutes for the viewer to decide what this film is about, but then things become clear. It is the most impossible and most beautiful love story we have seen in a while, disguised in a violent action movie. He is a stuntman, and a potential race driver who does not get to the race tracks, but races for burglars, helping them escape the location of their crimes. She is her floor neighbor, she has a kid and a husband in jail. When things seem to converge to some domestic low class drama located in the non-privileged area of Los Angeles, the husband returns from jail, gets soon into trouble, and the Driver is the only one who can potentially help him. Or drive him to his destiny. From here the second half of the film becomes one of the most violent I have seen recently on mainstream cinema, all packaged by director Nicolas Winding Refn in 70s style cinematography mixed with classic cars races.
The sincere and straightforward acting and the day to day appearance of the main characters make the violence (and there is violence!) even more striking. And yet, the overall impression 'Drive' left to me was of one of the most sensible films I have seen recently, with emotion surging up from a very unexpected place. My only problem is that I am not sure to whom this film would be recommended. Action films fans may find a little bit too sentimentality here, romantic movies fans may be shocked by the violence. To all, give this film a try!