David Lynch meets Quentin Tarantino - oh yes

Rating: 8/10 (28 November 2011)

David Lynch meets Quentin Tarantino. Just saw Drive tonight at our local cinema. Big screen is the best place to see this movie. Wide aerial shots of LA interspersed with street scenes, including freeway bridges. LA at night from the air always provides possibilities, but that moment a tad cheapened with the credit insert Nicholas trying-to-save-money? However, the nouveau-to-me director Nicholas Winding Refn shows action with the style of Hitchcock. The story starts with an initial getaway car drive - brief stunt drive - mechanic day job - as Ryan Gosling shows us his daily working life. Ryan strongly plays the lead, reminiscent of Robert Redford's understated strength as Sundance. Actions speak louder than words. It is satisfying to be able to get involved in a movie without having to put up with token dialog. Hossein Amini moves the screenplay forward without unnecessary dialog which is rare these days, and this movie shines a torch into a new future. I hope. Some of the unnecessary swearing could have been lost. But then the undercurrent love story hooks us in with slow motion soundtrack a la David Lynch of Twin Peaks. Things get difficult, and uber Tarantino violent. Very violent (warning). Ryan's few extra stomps in the elevator and no subsequent reaction don't gel. And yes I have some minor niggles with the exec producers having to show those companies that backed the film, such as Dick Smith Electronics, since we saw it was a uniden device that was used to listen to police comms (really?), with a good shot of the Aon-branded LA building, fading on Wells Fargo (oh well okay then), cinematog smooth by Newton Sigel. Not for all the ladies - as strong violence. But for the thinking man – strong, silent type, tentative lady concern, and seeking fairness, it's worth watching as it introduces slow-mo and Ryan-Clint into the genre.