Best Film of the Year but not a classic, Not even close

Rating: Null/10 (14 November 2011)

I just finished watching Drive and this is my first ever post on IDMB. I am an independent filmmaker/screenwriter myself and I keep an eye of what the viewers make of a certain project over here. The reason i am posting the thread is that I expected a lot from this film. A good friend of mine who has a great taste in films told me this was the best film since There will be blood which means in the past 3 years. I think "The Fighter" and "There will be Blood" were better and this will probably be the undisputed 3rd and best of the year.
Having said that this do not compare to Pulp Fiction or David Lynch's blue velvet, Wild at heart or Mulholland Drive. All of the many films this film has been compared to until now were better and the director is just another film school student to me. If this was a homage it still needed something more and that this film is the best film of the year is a sad reflection of the state of the industry today. Also it does not deserve a 8plus rating and that one is sure to go down with time when it is not so hot anymore.
The first half was boring and I can think of better actors than Ryan Gosling for the film. Carey mulligan and all others are immense however. The second half salvages the film.
Drive has taken it's most from Pulp Fiction and there are a lot of similar shots and direction. However Pulp Fictions two biggest USPs were it's dialogues and the fact that you were expecting the unexpected. I am really growing tired of three act hero's journey Hollywood format in every single film and this film is such obedient student of that fraternity.The dialogues are okay but that is all there is to it. When Oscar Isaac gets killed you could tell 3 minutes before that he was going to be killed and a lot of us could tell when his character was introduced that he was going to die because he was a genuine caring "good" guy and if Ryan Gosling had to Kiss his wife he better be dead, the other alternative scenario would have been he being the stereotype bad abusive alcoholic husband. At least they avoided that.
It would look like a phonebook if I continued but the bottomline is it is a fine movie for our time better than *beep* Buddies and Friends with benefits but not worth the hype or acclaim.