Great directing and opening scene

Rating: 9/10 (21 February 2012)

Going into Drive, I had very high hopes because I have heard such great things. This film is definitely an art house film, and if you like those types of movies you will love this. However for me I did have a few problems with it. For one it went a bit slow, and it seemed like they used slow motion way too much. However the biggest thing I didn't like was the stupid violence they added about halfway into the movie. There are some movies out there like the newest Rambo where I just love all the stupid awesome violence and blood, but this wasn't one of them. The first half of the movie was awesome, filled with story and you could really see the characters develop. Then it seemed like they just decided to throw in some dumb violence and it just didn't fit in with the tone of the movie. Aside from those things, there were some things that I did enjoy. The directing in this movie was absolutely amazing! The director definitely stole the show. I also enjoyed the looks of the movie, it was very colorful and it gave you a sort of 80's feel. It had a lot of old school aspects to it. It had 80's music playing, the settings looked like they were in the 80's even though they weren't. There is one scene in a motel where it made me feel like I was watching an old movie from the 80's. The acting was also very good. Gosling played the stoic character very well, even though he wouldn't seem like it. His character is a man of very few words who just wants to get the job done. I didn't think Gosling could pull that character off, but I was wrong. Albert Brooks also did excellent with his role as Bernie. The only actor that wasn't believable was Ron Perlman as a Jewish/Italian mobster. I think there could have been much better actors that could have played him. The biggest problem with the movie was the stupid unnecessary violence. For the first half of the movie I was really into the story and the relationships between the characters, but the violence brought me away from that. Overall, there are people who are going to LOVE this film and there are people who will think it's the biggest POS in the world. Both have very good arguments and I wouldn't disagree with either side. For me, I'm somewhere in the middle, so that's why I gave it 6/10.