A top-notch crime thriller

Rating: 8/10 (20 August 2012)

I've had really high expectations for a movie like this. Well... mainly because of the awesome soundtrack, not to mention the positive response from the film-buffs and all that... Pretty much geared-up to watch it anyway. I expected an action movie, with a decent storyline. Yet, it blew me away.
Drive is about a mysterious man only known as "Driver", who works as a getaway driver for crooks, bank robbers and the sort. He gives them only five minutes to do their job; should they fail, they'll be on their own. He works anonymously, with no regrets about the past jobs he has done, and this makes him more mysterious. When he meets single mother Irene, and her young son Benicio, Driver eventually softens. Here is the portrait of a once mysterious man, then you suddenly get the feeling that he's not as badass as he seems. He helps Irene's recently-out-of-jail husband Standard complete a job to pay off his debts, although this means breaking his moral codes. The heist goes horribly wrong, all hell breaks loose from there, and... well you get the point.
The point is, I really understand the people who don't like the film, and were expecting senseless carnage and a fast-paced thriller (I admit that sometimes I do enjoy a Michael Bay film)... Drive is not a movie made for everyone. It's all about the man who does not have a name... it is intended to arouse your curiosity about him, he doesn't say much, you wonder where he's from, why is he here, why is he doing all of this while he can get a full-time legal job. When he falls for the girl, you feel like that's all, but the film catches you off balance as he suddenly begins his transition from a gentle, caring man into a savage murderer when someone threatens the people he loves. There's more than that to him.
Director Nicolas Winding Refn deserves praise for his modern-day 1980s classic. The cinematography is excellent; a dark, decaying Los Angeles serves as the backdrop to all the mayhem, while the carefully executed scenes just pile up to an outburst of ultra-violence evoking the B-movie feel, yet, it is never overdone; the makers know how to restrict the violence before it overwhelms the viewer, and instead, it just makes it more fun to watch. This is a stylish, class-A art-house flick; a fresh counter-film to all the movies of today which just features little to no moral complexity in their characters and stunts which attempt to make an audience go "Ooh!" and "Aah!" while failing to thrill them at the same time.