Amazing.

Rating: 8/10 (19 July 2012)

Drive is one of the best films I've ever seen in my life. A lot of times, I call movies...well, movies. I'd hate to sound pretentious, but Drive really deserves to be called a "film". Why, you my ask?
Because it's insanely good, that's why.
I think this film very much benefited from not being complicated - at its core, it's a very simple (although EXTREMELY violent, if you don't like violence in your movies, you're probably gonna be freaked out) story. Our Driver (played by the fantastic Ryan Gosling), does getaway driving for criminals and is also a stunt driver during the day. He meets Irene (played by Carey Mulligan, who did a fantastic job) and her kid, and a love story begins. However, there are...complications.
This film definitely trades in quantity (in this case, story lines), for definite and total quality. The soundtrack of this movie is just fantastic. It's very retro, which gives this film a very 80s vibe. The cinematography is just absolutely gorgeous. Every single shot was perfectly framed. The views of the city were stunning, and the shots of Ryan Gosling just driving around L.A.
Something this film did that was very, very well was the different set pieces. It really paid attention to the character's personalities. Driver's apartment is very sparse, and it doesn't look very lived in at all. Irene's apartment is full of life, with lots of paintings and little details.
The movie has very little dialogue, but I was just so entranced by it. It felt very natural - nobody ever said anything very witty. There were no one-liners. The dialogue felt very real.
The action scenes are quick and brutal, which is something I appreciated. The director didn't make any of them go on for any longer than they needed to - nothing seemed very "this is a movie, we need to entertain our viewers with violence" about it. It was violent because it was needed for the story.
Overall, I definitely recommend Drive. It's great.