A Fully Justified Critical & Commercial Success

Rating: 8/10 (27 May 2018)

A slick, stylish and totally absorbing opening sequence introduces this movie's unnamed main character who operates as a getaway driver for criminals who carry out night-time heists in L.A. His sheer professionalism, exceptional driving skills and coolness under pressure are immediately apparent as is his ability to evade pursuing police cars and helicopters. A stopwatch to ensure perfect timing, a radio that's tuned to the police wavelength and an obviously detailed knowledge of the streets of his city, are all important tools in his armoury and contribute enormously to his continued success. Looking consistently calm, confident and fearless, this man of few words looks remarkably unassuming and possesses a useful ability to blend into a crowd and when needed, to just very naturally, disappear into the night.
The Driver (Ryan Gosling) works for garage owner Shannon (Bryan Cranston) who provides him with vehicles for his night work and arranges his daytime employment as a Hollywood stunt driver. Unexpectedly, The Driver's life changes when he becomes attracted to Irene (Carey Mulligan), a young woman who lives in a neighbouring apartment with her young son Benicio (Kaden Leos). The couple soon strike up a warm relationship and The Driver bonds well with the boy. After a couple of weeks, Irene's husband, Standard (Oscar Isaac) returns home after completing a prison sentence and as well as being remarkably contrite about what he'd done in the past, also doesn't show any hostility to The Driver.
On one of the days, shortly after Standard's return home, The Driver finds him covered in blood after having been beaten up and the ex-con explains that he owes a large amount of protection money from his time in prison to some mobsters who've demanded that he carry out a pawn shop robbery to clear his debt. As they'd also threatened to harm Irene and Benicio if he doesn't do what they ask, The Driver offers to act as Standard's wheelman. The robbery ends disastrously and from a TV news report that he hears shortly after, The Driver realises that the heist was a set-up and that his life is in immediate danger. What follows involves a lot of violence and The Driver losing something that's very precious to him.
Whilst this adaptation of a novel by James Sallis contains many familiar components such as car chases, a heist gone wrong, romance and strong violence, the end product is so moody, gripping and beautifully photographed that it's very enjoyable to watch. The whole production has a rather retro feel and includes many recognisable influences from movies of the past with Walter Hill's "The Driver" (1978) being the most obvious and strongest source of inspiration. Both films feature a laconic driver with no name and no back-story who's inscrutable, unflappable and routinely doesn't carry a gun (and the similarities don't stop there).
The movie's most memorable scene takes place in an elevator where the juxtaposition of a moment of great tenderness and a sickeningly violent episode proves to be incredibly powerful. The pacing of the piece and its wonderful soundtrack are also extremely effective in maintaining its ominous atmosphere and an impeccable performance by Ryan Gosling who has to express so much non-verbally, is also another part of what made "DrIve" such a great and fully justified critical and commercial success.