A Scenic Drive

Rating: 10/10 (22 September 2011)

This isn't a film that's going to break any box office records but, deservedly, this is the kind of film that's destined to develop a following in the footsteps of the average early Tarantino flick. Don't be fooled by the movies dynamic opening scene, this is a slow burning candle of an epic crime drama. Great cast and award winning direction from Nicolas Winding Refn. Drive mostly coasts along with an occasional nitrous oxide injection - in all it's crimson plasma glory. The soundtrack gives the film a unique neon edge and lends itself to the tension building throughout. Characters like Standard, Cook and Blanche come and go quickly like speeding cars passing on an LA highway while Driver and Irene settle in the inner lane, occasionally interrupted by the traffic, one trying to prevent a deadly collision, the other unaware of the dangers that lay ahead.
Ryan Gosling shines in the lead role. Driver is a man of few words, a cross between Mel Gibson as Mad Max, Charles Bronson as Paul Kersey and, yes, Tom Hanks as Forest Gump. The Gosling character has a Gumplike soft spot for Irene and son Benecio which fuels his inner Kersey and leads to scenes of horrific violence. Driver is resigned to his fate but determined to play it fair in a game that has no rules.
Carey Mulligan might come across as miscast in her role as Irene. Like Driver, Irene vibes a quiet resignation in this dark corner of the world. Mulligan isn't miscast so much as her character is misplaced living in the run down apartment with her ex-con husband and more or less becoming a pawn in a dangerous game being played by mobsters, Los Angeles as chessboard.
Bryan Cranston delivers as usual, making an easy transition from Walter White to Shannon on the big screen. No small task given his iconic role in Breaking Bad, you forget instantly that it's the same actor at work. Try watching James Gandolfini in his mobster True Romance role (or any role for that matter) and tell me you aren't having a hard time thinking "Tony Soprano".
Albert Brooks is intense in his role a Bernie Rose. Most memorable is his characters killing of Shannon, done completely void of malice with matter of fact clinical precision and the compassion of a ER physician treating a small child with a broken limb. Rose is simply a gangster doing what he has to do and unlucky Shannon can't catch a break to save his life. Literally. Nico (Ron Perlman) is reminded, in the aftermath of a heist gone wrong, that cleaning up after Bernie Rose is job best done with plastic gloves on.
If the satin jacket isn't enough Driver verbally injects the fable of the "Scorpion and the Frog" in a call to Rose, setting up their fateful meeting. The final scene is the very epitome of the fable playing out in a restaurant parking lot although it's hard to tell who's playing the part of the frog as both Driver and Rose deliver the sting. Cleverly done but much of the ending is left for the viewer to decipher in the "blink of an eye". There are small nuggets in the film that are bound to confuse the viewer. Bernie once referring to Nico as "Izzy" for example (which can only be explained by reading the James Sallis book that inspired the screenplay). Drive is a film that deserves further inspection. It's probably not for the Twillight crowd but it certainly deserves a place in the niche of cool crime dramas. Think a dark and moody Pulp Fiction, minus the black comedy, with more than a hint of oddly romantic innocence amid bloody consequences.