Successful originality

Rating: 9/10 (4 January 2012)

***This review is not suitable for people who understand movies and other kinds of things***
I didn't intend to write a review on Drive, and I know that it's inappropriate to write a review on other people's reviews, but after reading them I couldn't help myself and had to make my statement. Besides, I think I will still offer a (maybe) helpful insight to the movie.
I'm not a professional movie critique, but when I get to judge a movie, and I do because judging is something we humans like and need doing, I have 2 simple rules: 1.) is it smart? And if it gets passed that then 2.) what does it try to achieve? I really don't see an exception to this rule. Now, anyone who thinks this movie deserves 2/10 I will have to disappoint. As fortune has it, if you are among them, you shouldn't be reviewing movies.
Drive clearly stands apart from your typical "production" movie where a bunch of people involved with movie-making decide it is worth investing into an idea, make a movie out of it and make money because there is a good chance people will watch it (especially if you hire Adam Sandler) - 'Drive' is not a 'business' movie. It does try to sell itself (don't we all?), but not for money. For something much more pleasing.
'Drive' is expression. A statement. A view. It tries to communicate. It tries to be unique in a universal sense. It tries to stay true to itself - and solely for that it deserves some credit.
The idea that the world can be so unbearably corrupt that words become needless is familiar to all of us. The state when the only noble thing seems to be to fight it, not for a gain, but purely out of ethics. When you loose all understanding and fate in others, when bad people no longer have excuses. At times like that one finds the motivation and strength to pursue greatness and sacrifice himself for the world, even if it's just for an utterly unimportant woman with a 'cheap' place in society - because there is no lesser or greater sacrifice. That's what Jesus did as well, and his book got some good reviews, didn't it? (I'm an atheist BTW).
That's where the brutal murders come from. They are saying 'No! I did not hesitate, they deserve it'. The idea of Ryan G.'s character is that he has freed himself from the 'ME'. He has no stakes in any of it. He did not fall in love with Irene, he just views her as something pure and good. The only time he kisses her is in the elevator and he does it to save her, not out of 'love'.
The slow pace and silence are not there just out of aesthetic reasons. They are very descriptive and say a lot about the main character. They try to emphasize his emotional state, especially his determination. They also draw our concentration onto specific things and put us more easily into the protagonists shoes.
I expected 'Drive' to be a witty racing movie with good action sequences. I was pleasantly surprised to see it does better. It only uses the whole 'driver' thing as a cover for a more meaningful story.
A good movie's job is to remind us of noble values, to strengthen them. Also, to contribute to the collective vision of the world and to set the directions for it's development. To offer up-to-date ideas to the viewer so we can use them for ourselves - to build on each other, or to provide the comforting fact that there is someone else out there who shares our confrontations. If a movie succeeds in not damaging our culture, in my eyes it is a good movie, and I will always feel sympathetic about it.
'Drive' succeeds!