Filmdebate debates DRIVE

Rating: Null/10 (9 October 2011)

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THE FUGITIVE: I haven't "hung on the edge" of my seat during a movie for quite awhile. The last one to come close was "127 Hours," but I already knew the outcome. He lives. During the car chase of "Drive," my fist was clinched tight (only if I had some awesome driving gloves while doing so!) The movie was great. Great style. Great pacing. Great Cinematography. Great Acting. Driving around LA with the our main character was sweet. The film does a great job giving the feel and sense for the City of Angels. Ryan Gosling and Carey Mulligan did a very nice job with their characters, with Gosling holding the emotion close with his subtlety. The movie drives along at a slow, steady and consistent pace...then the violence comes along. And does it come! The stark contrast from the subtlety of everything else, makes the blood, violence, and killing that much more effective. "Drive" is a chasing good time.
THE PROFESSIONAL: During the opening scene of Drive... I was thinking "Tension! This is what movies are missing these days! Wonderful tension!" What a great start! But then I was ultimately let down. In a movie called Drive, I was expecting more of those awesome driving sequences instead of two and a half or three scenes scattered throughout the movie. I thought this might be the movie to give Ronin a run for its money for best car chases of all time, but no. Should have called the movie Driver instead.
The overall plot pacing and the bursts of extreme violence against a few mafioso types seemed very similar in feel to movies like A History of Violence. But I will say that the movie dripped with style and a mostly killer neo-new wave soundtrack. And yes, Ryan Gosling proved himself to be a real human being and a real hero.
THE MAN WHO WASN'T THERE: It didn't have anything close to the best car chases of all time, but I thought it was one of the most effective thrillers I have seen in awhile. I agree with the Fugitive, it did a fantastic job of setting a mood and place, and the contrasts between the spikes of danger and violence in the story gave the moments of suspense that much more impact. Rather than a bunch of weak and furious jabs, this movie bobbed and weaved until it came in for killer uppercuts. It's "show, don't tell" movie-making at its best; Ryan Gosling says more in his actions and a few looks and smirks than any cliché-ridden speech could. Thankfully there was no "I'm out of the game/one last job/just when I thought I was out they pull me back in" soliloquy, because there was no need. Bonus points for not making the precocious child too precocious.
I will say that the mafioso/"Nino" story was slightly lame, and as much as I love Ron Pearlman (count me as a Sons of Anarchy fan), I thought the way he and Albert Brooks fit into the story was the weakest aspect of the movie. But overall, this was the deluxe version of a standard heist thriller.
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