A beautifully crafted classic.

Rating: 10/10 (30 July 2014)

Drive is easily one of my favourite films of the last few years and after the first time viewing it I was tremendously surprised. I had gone into the movie expecting a run-of-the-mill action/thriller movie about a getaway driver; somewhat in the style of the Transporter series. However the strengths of this film come from the understanding of what it is and the raw power of the script. This film has real depth to it and there is actually a distinct lack of vehicle action (to the disappointment of some who were expecting an intense car film). Ryan Gosling puts on what I believe to be one of his greatest performances and can evoke emotion without so much as a single line of dialogue; the stoic and unnamed driver has scenes whereby all that is necessary to understand what is playing through in his mind is the subtle look of his eyes. However when the film does decide to become more focused on the driver's innate ability in his criminal profession, it still leaves the viewer in awe. Anyone who has seen the film will remember the perfect example of this being the immaculate intro sequence which I will say is without a doubt one of my favourite introductions to a movie of all time. The film features an absolutely brilliant musical score and is one of the rare soundtracks that I found myself actively seeking out on the internet only to purchase later on and listen to on a regular basis in car journeys or just when I'm in the mood for some awesome easy-listening electronic songs. Drive reminded me of how much I value a good performance from Bryan Cranston and Ron Pearlman and I will most assuredly be looking out for more of Albert Brooks' roles. Without spoiling the ending I can say that the constant tug-of-war struggle between being a good person and succumbing to a more dark persona is brought together wonderfully with other seemingly insignificant scenes earlier in the film surprising me at how well they fit into the overall theme. The editing and cinematography in this film is superb and I cannot fault it at a single point; I found it particularly clever that the shots in the opening getaway scene never leave the inside of the car (this is something that I did not pick up myself but after going back and watching the scene again it only enhanced the experience further to think more about what was going on in the director's head). An all-round great movie and I would recommend it to anyone.