Not so fast

Rating: Null/10 (17 September 2011)

Not quite as good as reviews had lead me to expect. Ryan Gosling's almost autistic performance is offputting; he seems more insane than heroic and his pleasure in violence somewhat dilutes the movie's spell. At one point, he even puts on a blank mask before doing a bad deed, and the ref to Jason of the FRI13ers is clear. Possibly a livelier, warmer and less psychotic anti-hero would have been more pleasing and might have jacked the box office prospects a bit. Gosling plays a kind of existential loner with almost off-the-charts car skills, which, alas, the movie loses interest in as it diverts to knife and gun killings of the bloodiest kind. In any event, with a crush on a next door neighbor (English cutie Carey Mulligan), he agrees to help her recently paroled husband do a job, not realizing it's a set up which is run by the same Jewish mob that is bankrolling his own NASCAR sortie (also quickly abandoned). Once the deal goes bad, it's mainly about killing as the bad guys keep sending hitters and he keeps wiping them out. It may stir some jollies to see Albert Brooks (SPOILER) kill two guys with bladed weapons, unleashing a spray of plasma like a broken dam. Then, too, the giant Ron Pearlman head is always a wonder to behold. Plot: a little confusing. Action sequences: well done, as I say, quite bloody. Style: very noir moody, with lots of bleeding red lighting and odd compositions, slow mo overused, in the Euroart (Director is a Dane) trad. If you like this sort of thing, as I do, you'll find it cheaply mezmerising but lacking the depth and passion of true noir.