A perfect modernization of an ancient concept.

Rating: 10/10 (10 October 2011)

Drive(2011)
I watched 'Walhalla Rising', Nicolas Winding Refns previous film, a few years ago at the Rotterdam Film Festival and left with a great feeling. This piece about a mute viking(one-eye) made a big impact. Yet, I never expected the director to make the leap over the ocean himself and make a more mainstream film. Well he did, and I'm thrilled.
The film starts off with a blast. We see 'driver' (Ryan Gosling) driving an escape car and outwitting cop cars in a way which reminds of a computer-game. The tension and pace of the scene is very strong, straight away the main character is portrayed as calm, cool and collective. Nobody can hurt him, as we will see in the rest of the film.
The main character possesses a few characteristics 'one-eye' in 'Walhalla Rising' also possessed. Whereas one-eye never spoke, driver speaks the bare minimum. One-eye was relentlessly violent, as is driver. Ryan Goslings character is a present day viking/hero. Rules don't apply to him, he and his car are untouchable.
The film is divided in two parts. The first part obviously introduces the characters, but in a very calm way. A 'standard' type love-interest is also introduced. We take a look at drivers life. The story eases by and can very well be an homage to eigthies B-movies, also thanks to the fantastic original score which has an eigthies synthpop feel to it.
The second part of the film takes the viewer to a completely different direction. The story evolves into a crime/thriller where everybody is inter-involved in some way. When things start to go wrong they really do. The film becomes a personal quest by our "hero/viking/driver". He has to protect his love-interest and her son. Suspense is also fed with great ease by the director, the build-up to the 'gore-like' scenes is very elegant. Driver goes about with amazing coolness and confidence. He's got everything to become an instant cult-hero. The hero is dead, long live driver.
The cinematography is amazingly well adapted to the story, the scenes where he flies around the city in his car for one are mind-bobbling. The direction is very smooth, time flies by when viewing this. The 'gore' is great and unexpected and reminds of David Cronenberg; realistic, hard, but not too much of it which gives a great impact.
The casting is spot-on. The stubborn loner driver is perfect for Gosling. Carey Mulligan gives the single waitress-mom a new dimension and is as sweet as she is hardened. Bryan Cranston as the likable opportunist friend Shannon who has known hardship is easy to relate to. The 'gangsters' play roles they're familiar with. Ron Perlman as Nino stands out as a very convincing hatable character.
The score is wonderful. The 80s synthpop goes perfectly with the lonely dark nights of LA, it also adds to the softness of the subtle love story. The stylist scenes combined with the suspense rising sounds give a great effect and keep the viewer on the edge all the way through.
There aren't any major twists and turns in this crime-thriller, it's not needed though. Drivers quest for justice is a familiar story set in modern day Los Angeles about a man with morally high standards and the skills to go along with it to make the bad guys pay. A perfect modernization of an ancient concept. 9/10