Overrated

Rating: Null/10 (4 October 2011)

Ryan Gosling is The Driver, a movie stunt driver who moonlights as a getaway driver. He becomes interested in a young mother who moves into the neighbouring apartment. When her husband is released from prison and blackmailed into a carrying out a robbery, The Driver offers his help. But things go wrong.
For the second time within a month I have gone into a movie with high expectations based on what I have read, only to come out feeling distinctly underwhelmed. Let me start by saying that this is not a bad film. But it certainly isn't as good as it is being made out to be - far from it. And it suffers from one of the same faults that my other recent disappointment (Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy) suffered from - excessive pausing.
I can't see that this Ryan Gosling fellow is the Great White Hope he is being touted as. He was OK (but no better) in Crazy, Stupid, Love., and he is OK (but no better) in this, given that he is required to play his part as borderline autistic. Whenever anyone speaks to him (especially Carey Mulligan's next door neighbour) there is a 10 second wait before he even starts to think about replying. It is incredibly annoying. Coupled with a mass of other unnecessary shots which simply do nothing towards moving the film along, this 100 minute movie, somnolent for much of its length, could lose a good 15 minutes or more in the edit of the first half without it affecting the narrative thrust at all (taking out the pauses, removing unnecessary shots, speeding unnecessary slow motion up to normal speed). In fact, it would tighten the movie up enormously and make it far more urgent (it would also stop Gosling looking as if he is brain-damaged much of the time).
The story itself is fine, progressing in directions which aren't always expected. The performances are all good (especially Bryan Cranston and Albert Brooks). The driving - of which there is relatively little - is exciting. The action - again, of which there is relatively little - is sudden, and brutally violent. And the visuals are beautifully composed.
Two more quibbles, one small, one not so small.
One, having arrived at a satisfactory resolution, the film takes a half-step further and delivers a final shot of irritating uncertainty.
And two (and far more fundamental) - the character of The Driver. The fact that he is never given a name tells us that we are not supposed to know anything about him, his back story, why and how he came to be who he is, and so on. Fair enough. But I would have liked him to be consistent. Instead, his character is exactly what the plot requires it to be at any particular point in time, even if that contradicts what he was like 10 seconds earlier. Without knowing anything about him, you don't have any reason to rationalise his wildly inconsistent actions.
There is a good film in here struggling to get out, but it hasn't succeeded.