Wheelman extraordinaire

Rating: 7/10 (24 November 2012)

Precision driving can mean the difference between a long prison sentence and a clean getaway. For the right price and with the right connection, those are services you can obtain once and only once and Ryan Gosling provides them.
Starring as a character that is never given a name, Gosling works as a mechanic for Shannon (played by Bryan Cranston) who also allows him to use vehicles brought to his garage for servicing for his illicit activities. In addition, he does the occasional bit of stunt driving for Hollywood films. Not to mention the fact that Shannon's (Cranston's) associate Bernie Rose (played way against type by Albert Brooks) is considering a proposal Shannon made to have Driver race professionally with Bernie (Brooks) as their benefactor. Things appear to be going swimmingly until Driver offers assistance to a neighbor being coerced to perform a robbery. The neighbor, Standard (played by Oscar Isaac), was recently released from prison and fears what his associate will do to his family. A family that Driver became quite close to in the time between when he met them and the day Standard was released.
The violence is a little gruesome, and the surreal nature of a character with no name is something that didn't actually strike me until after I left the theater. That said, the story is interesting, the performances spectacular and the general feel of the film is right on target. It is light-years ahead of films like The Transporter that seek to turn their characters into superheroes.