The Plot

By day, ‘Driver’ (Ryan Gosling) is a Hollywood stunt man, but by night he makes his real money in the criminal underworld as a top-flight getaway driver. When pretty but very married next-door neighbour Irene (Carey Mulligan) is menaced by hoods, he steps in to protect her and her little boy, only to find himself in an escalating conflict between the local thugs and the Mafia.

The Thoughts

September has always been the period after the summer blockbusters in which films that are left on the studio slate get dumped. It is also the start ‘serious’ movie season in which movies start vying for Oscar consideration.  Drive is definitely of the latter category.

Adapted from a crime novel, the film is based on a premise where a stunt driver by day, moonlights as a getaway driver by night. Ryan Gosling plays the aforementioned driver, a silent brooding hero of few words akin to Clint Eastwoods ‘man with no name’. Just as the spaghetti western hero, we never actually learn the driver’s name.

However we do learn that he is and introverted and socially isolated indivudual, a man of little words that excels at what he does. His world then changes when he meets Irene, his pretty but married neighbour.

Refn, already gaining reputation as a talented up and coming filmmaker cements himself here, as a bonafide auteur. The opening scene is the most tense and suspenseful scene you will see this year. This is a film that is stylishly in no hurry to get anywhere.  Drive is an absorbing, atmospheric neon-noir drenched film that has little dialogue and driven by nuanced performances of its actors.

Goslings star has been rising for a while now playing social outcasts with a specific purpose, is perfectly cast as the silent brooding hero full of tension and controlled aggression. He is quite simply a revelation, subtly balancing, tough, silent yet caring. There hasn’t been a character this cool for quite some time.

Mulliagan, also a dependable rising star with a resume of nuanced, subtle, but powerful performances also seems perfectly cast but actually has little to do here. You could however see a less gifted actress overacting the part. Less is sometimes more.

The most surprising element of the film is the violence. For a film where the characters display immense restraint, when the violence hits, it is loud, graphic and messy.  Not since Tarantino has a point blank shot to the head scene been so memorable.

The cinematography here is lush, sweeping across the LA backdrop from the main streets to the desert. Combined with a mesmerising synth score and lots of slo-mo, this creates an absorbingly, atmospheric, hyper-stylised, hyper-violent film that is just too cool for school.

The Film Buzz Review Rating: (9/10)

UK Release Date: 23rd September 2011

Director: Nicolas Winding Refn

Writers: Hossein Amini