Driver a dud

Rating: 6/10 (23 January 2012)

Despite all the great reviews that have been put out about this film, I'm not buying it. In fact, the only reason i kept watching was that Ryan Gosling and Carey mulligan are probably my favourite actor and actress of this generation of film. I think the cast carried the film, which itself was dull and unbelievable.
Credit where credit is due, I think the actors, sound guys and camera crew all did stellar jobs. Where Drive falls down is the script, and the direction. The film is riddled with long awkward shots lacking in dialogue that give it an extremely European feel. The whole silent montage thing is fine. However, when you're trying to make an audience believe that Gosling's character (We never learn his name) and Irene (Carey Mulligan) are developing some sort of meaningful relationship, you need more than a few lines of dialogue. I think the best part of the film is they way they develop the driver's relationship with Irene's son. That at least I can say was fantastic.
I just can't shake the feeling that the cast was wasted on such a lame attempt to make a great film. The plot is really quite interesting, and it presents some profound moral dilemmas, yet something is just missing. Whether that falls to the editors, the director, the screenplay writer, or any combination of the three, I can't say. All i know is that I really wanted to love this film, and I found myself struggling to even finish watching it.
Some people may have been put off by the extremely graphic violence. I think it was masterfully placed in the context of the film. However, if you can't believe that the driver really cares for Irene, then everything that follows Standard's (Irene's husband) release from prison may as well be in another film.
So overall a disappointing experience in my opinion.