Refn does it again PLUS we get best Michael Mann film in 16 years

Rating: 9/10 (1 February 2012)

"DRIVE"
Want to see the film that Michael Mann should have made between "Thief" and "Manhunter" instead of the mess that was "The Keep"? Well here it is.
After the triumph of "Bronson", and the at least interesting and delightfully brutal "Valhalla Rising", Nicholas Winding Refn delivers this astonishing modern 80's throwback that delivers absolutely everything you could hope for.
Anyone who has seen "Thief" will recognise the night time cityscape stylistic flourishes and cool, smooth take on the old 'honourable man on the wrong side of the law' plot and anyone who has seen "Manhunter" will recognise the laid back, dream-like, constantly backed by ethereal synth, dialogue exchanges. Exchanges made so compelling, even when dialogue is minimal, by the acting and that perfect synth accompaniment, that the slowish build-up becomes a dramatic triumph in of itself. So much is owed to, and hinges on, this score and its use.
The modern but throwback electro songs and 'Tangerine Dream" style original score by Cliff Martinez (and pink, neon, silk on steel, title graphic and opening credits) all scream prime era Michael Mann too. This is not only a stunning movie in it's own, 21st century, right but the best Michael Mann film not made by Michael Mann in 16 years.
That's not to say that Refn's own mastery of the art is not in evidence, or to say that it is anything but (well perhaps along with Gasper Noe) Refn's own lashings of astonishingly brutal and graphic violence on display that superbly punctuate this, what he himself has called, urban fairytale. Nor is it without note that this is very much another Refn study of a singular, driven, coldly brutal at times, man living in an unforgiving world. But, and despite traces of Melville and 70's U.S. crime films, at its heart "Drive" is without doubt the offspring of 80's Michael Mann.
Ryan Gosling gives a fascinating, multi-layed, performance of a fascinating, multi-layered character (known only as Driver) who is the chivalrous knight one moment, and the gore drenched barbarian the next. One can not exist without the other in this man's world...not if the pure princess and her innocent child are to be saved.
The support cast is also superb with an almost unrecognisable (who stole his eyebrows?!) Albert Brooks as a measured but ruthless crime boss, Bryan Cranston as Driver's friend, Ron Pearlman as a thick-headed, uncompromising heavy and Carey Mulligan does a beautiful job as the barely reachable purity in Driver's life, who belongs to another.
Poignant drama, multi layered characters, simple but clever plotting, excellent (and excellently utilised) synth soundtrack, gorgeous cinematography, crisp nighttime city dreamscapes, exciting and unapologetically cool car sequences, superb acting and truly brutal and gory action are the gift to the audience...and the pitch perfect 80's/Michael Mann thriller stylings are the its wrappings, all brilliantly crafted by writer Hossein Amini and director Nicholas Winding Refn.
One of the best films of the decade at the very least and an essential purchase.