Stylish Thriller

Rating: 9/10 (10 September 2011)

On a pure visceral level the opening scene of Drive is arguably the film's best. Not to say that it goes downhill from there; rather it is brilliant and almost silent, and it gets the audience on the edge of their seat before slowing down into a terrific first act during which the unnamed Gosling character and Mulligan establish their relationship.
I have seen Nicholas Winding Refn's Pusher series and Bronson films, and he really knows how to get wonderful performances out of his actors. The ironic thing is that some of the greatest acting scenes in the film come when Gosling and Mulligan have no dialog whatsoever. I am a huge Gosling fan. He along with Joseph Gordon-Leavitt are my favorite young actors working today. Gordon-Leavitt's 50/50 is my favorite film so far this year (Caught it at an advance screening as I was able to see this film as well.) I think Gordon- Leavitt will receive an Oscar nomination this year, not so much Gosling this time around, but he does a terrific job. Strangely enough I could see Mulligan getting nominated for her portrayal of Irene.
When watching this film I was reminded mostly of Micheal Mann's "Thief" in both style and its' use of violence, but I was also reminded of early John Woo Chinese action film's like "The Killer" and "Hard Boiled" perhaps more from the weird soundtrack than from the actual style of the violence. And let me tell you, the soundtrack is very weird. At times it works quite well, at times not so much. When the music is instrumental it is perfect. Like Tangerine Dream in "Thief". Perhaps it was Tangerine Dream doing the instrumentals here as well, I am not sure, but the 80's sounding vocal songs were just weird. For the most part I found them annoying though once or twice they had a successful effect. I found myself thinking about the director, this guy sure knows how to put together a film, but he sure has awful taste in music. John Woo's Chinese soundtracks also used a lot of odd music to accompany brutal scenes of violence. And make no mistake about it, this film has the most brutal scenes of violence of any film ever made. But I gotta say, they really work.
Don't go expecting a pure action film though, it certainly isn't. There are long stretches of silence and pauses that worked 100% for me to understand the characters and their relationships. Some viewers will literally hate those scenes. If you can't wait for Transformers 4, this may not be your cup of tea.
I really don't want to give away too many spoilers but I do want to mention one very cool scene at the end where Refn creates this metaphor of a Scorpion via the Gosling character. It really is an image stuck in my head.
I didn't recognize Bryan Cranston for a few minutes while watching his character. Since "Breaking Bad" is my absolute favorite TV show, I found that very commendable for him and it says a lot about his true talent as a character actor. Albert Brooks whose "Lost in America" remains one of my all time favorite comedies, is anything but comic here and he is brilliant. Ron Perlman also delivers a strong performance.
This film is not for everyone; but if what you have read about the film from me and the critics and folks that have been lucky enough to have seen it already, make you want to see it, then you are very likely to love it.