Beautiful, slow build, thriller

Rating: 8/10 (16 December 2019)

I can only imagine that the bad reviews are due to people reading the synopsis and expecting a movie with car chases and explosions. No, this is not is Fast Furious.
Drive is an excellent movie that exemplifies perfectly how good directing goes a long way to tell a great story. There are many scenes with little to no dialogue where a lot is said or shown to the audience regardless.
Gosling - who in 2011 was probably know to most people only due to Notebook - plays masterfully a troubled stuntman / getaway driver who finds in Irene (Carey Mulligan) and her son Benito a comforting he seems to be longing for.
When a heist goes wrong and those relationships are at risk, all of the characters are really put to the test and the narrative goes off, explodes. Without any of it being obvious and requiring being spelled out.
A great thriller which takes time to build the tension, because it instead chooses to creates deeper characters.
Closer to an 9/10 than a 8/10 in my book, to be fair.
PS: If you liked Drive, I'd really recommend trying out Nightcrawler (2014)