Drive never shifts into fifth gear

Rating: 8/10 (2 January 2013)

"Drive" seamlessly shifts from first into fourth gear, just a bit slow out of the gate, and never quite kicks into fifth. "Drive" is the story of a Hollywood stunt driver (Ryan Gosling) by day, who offers his specialized abilities as a getaway driver-for-hire in the criminal underworld by night. He finds himself a target after agreeing to aid the husband of his beautiful neighbor, Irene (Carey Mulligan). When the job falls apart, the only way he can keep Irene and her son alive is to do what he does best-Drive. "Drive" is a fine action/thriller film that is light on the storyline and dialog (which isn't necessarily a bad thing), and heavy on highly-stylized action scenes with intense moments of violence. Ryan Gosling is fantastic as usual, but I cannot get past Albert Brooks part as a complete miscast. Perhaps expectations were too high going into the viewing, because outside of Ryan's performance, I just don't think there is anything really special here.