Expecting more

Rating: 7/10 (24 March 2012)

Having heard and read rave reviews of this film having watched it for myself I have to say that I am a little disappointed.
I wont go into the storyline as reading this you should already know it, I will just give my overall opinion taking it into context. The good points in this film first are the acting from Ryan Gosling in the lead role, a very understated performance often with little or no dialogue, he certainly handles the role of a Stunt Driver moonlighting as a Getaway Driver with aplomb. The action scenes are violent and shocking at times and inventive enough to keep them fresh. Carey Mulligan gives a decent enough performance in a fairly subdued role and Ron Perlman has real presence as a crooked bad guy. The storyline itself is solid enough and intriguing and Albert Brooks is really menacing in his role however a few things I felt let this film down badly from what I expected. Firstly despite Goslings performance I found the first hour of the film a little slow with long camera shots of driving and long moments of silence becoming a bit tiresome. After the first hour the film improves with more action but is then let down by what I thought was a really flat ending leaving you with more questions than answers. I was left frustrated as I wanted a clearer vision of what happened next. I felt that Carey Mulligans character could have been used more also.
Overall a decent film that could have been better if like me you have high hopes then you may be left disappointed.