Pop rocks and bloody gloves.

Rating: 7/10 (25 September 2011)

There's not much to say that hasn't been said a thousand times already. Pop rocks and bloody gloves. From the second the film started I was sucked into the visual style that Nicolas Winding Refn had injected it with, and once the credits began I was convinced the film wasn't going to disappoint. The movie opens with a heist and it's an impressive show of palpable intensity, where Refn gets us to care about this guy that we just met and has yet to say a word. Ryan Gosling sitting silent in the car, the only noise being a police radio in the car detailing the scenario as it plays out without us, it was such an effective technique and immediately draws you in. In this day and age, it's hard to really get taken away by a film, but this one does just that. It takes you to another place and keeps you there for the duration.
Another thing that films generally fail to do currently is make you understand the gravity of violence. It's so common-place and jazzed up in film that it's just expected at this point. Drive is one of the more violent films I've seen recently, but it does the exact opposite; it makes you feel every drop of blood that hits the pavement. With a Cronenberg-like approach to it, very in your face and blunt with no musical score backing it up, every scene of violence becomes gripping and brutal. In fact, the moments of graphic violence are the least stylized ones in the picture. With his cool, ferocious stare Gosling really packs them with a punch.
I know the main complaint for the film is that the characters aren't very well-developed, but I don't see that so much. Yeah, we don't get a lot of surface development for them, but I think the actors do a magnificent job of really playing who these people are underneath the surface. Driver is that loner who falls into love and it changes his whole life. Irene (played with lovely grace by Carey Mulligan) is the woman who got married and had a kid too young and is getting a taste of the kind of high school crush that makes her feel free and alive again. Shannon (played with surprising vulnerability by Bryan Cranston) is the guy who has been dragged through the mud his whole life, no matter how much hard work he puts in to stop it. The cast is loaded with remarkably talented actors and they all do a fantastic job of bringing what was underneath the surface to our attention.
They make these peoples real while Refn creates this vintage, bubble gum on a blood-stained boot sensation that pours through every scene. Gosling's suave exterior is hiding a very enraged, borderline psychotic man hiding just underneath. Ron Perlman and Albert Brooks are an excellent yin and yang of the criminal world, the former being loud and violent while the other is soft and visceral. The soundtrack is one of the best in quite a while, perfectly capturing the tone that Refn sets to achieve and making the whole thing so vibrant and alive. This is one of those films where everything just pulls itself together so well and vibes without a crack in the shell, bringing you into it's unique world and taking you on a wild journey that will stick with you. There are so many memorable scenes and I had to grab the soundtrack the moment it was over.