How Can You Tell

Rating: 10/10 (5 October 2011)

Two of the main characters sit on a couch watching an unseen cartoon. A man and a boy. The man asks this young child, "is the shark the bad guy?" The boy responds, "yeah". "How can you tell," asks the man. "All sharks are bad guys," responds the boy as though it is obvious.
With a movie that is directed as deliberately as Drive I believe that this scene is in there with a very specific reason, and is crucial to understanding what this film is placing in front of us. The major theme of this film is a tried but true idea which is, what is bad and what is good. What is light and what is dark. Can you tell who the bad guys are?
We have Shannon and the Driver, both run an honest garage shop, both also aid criminals. Both are trying to get into honest, work but are drawn back to the dark, by their actions and by "bad" luck. We have Bernie and Nino. One is hot tempered and quick to kill the other doesn't relish what he has to do. One laughs after killing, one sits alone in his house drinking. One wants to murder, one wants to help.
The much talked about elevator seen is the culmination of this problem for the driver. He knows that he must unleash the "dark" in him to save the one he loves, but he also knows that she will see this "darkness" in him. Which is why he wants steals a kiss, one last moment to show her the "light" in him before he must unleash the "dark".
This film is a purely sad movie about how even the best of us, when pushed to the edge of death will unleashes the monsters inside us in order to survive, and to protect the ones we love. So who are the good guys? Who are the bad? Can Bernie really be considered a Shark just because he is trying to save himself? Remember the driver is just as much a criminal as he is. Can the Driver really be a good guy if he is willing to help criminals and go to the edge of brutality that he does? Who are the sharks?