Drive review

Driver: There's a hundred-thousand streets in this city. You don't need to know the route. You give me a time and a place, I give you a five minute window. Anything happens in that five minutes and I'm yours. No matter what. Anything happens a minute either side of that and you're on your own. Do you understand? 

Director: Nicolas Winding Refn
(2011)

There is something about Drive that makes for a somewhat awkward viewing experience. Make no mistake, it’s an effortlessly stylish film, directed with such elegant precision by Nicolas Winding Refn, yet these factors don’t make for an easy watch. The cool as a cucumber 80’s vibe and mesmerising cinematography is almost unhinged by some incredibly odd encounters, as our chiselled protagonist ‘The Driver’ (Ryan Gosling) is as emotionally complex as he is socially incapable.

A stunt driver for films by day and expert getaway driver for the criminal underworld by night, The Driver exudes independence that maintains a distance between him and everyone in his life. His employer Shannon (Bryan Cranston) is a compassionate ally, even though such niceties fruitlessly rebound off of Goslings glacial 1000 yard stare. This enigma of a man opens up somewhat when he meets neighbour Irene (Carey Mulligan). The romance that is poised to blossom is abruptly interrupted by the return of Irene’s husband Standard (Oscar Isaac) fresh out of prison and a changed man. Standard owes the wrong people protection money, and in order to help Irene and son (Benicio) (Kaden Leos), The Driver opts to help him out, putting him on the wrong side of local gangsters Nino (Ron Perlman) and Bernie (Albert Brooks).

Drive is an interesting film for Winding Refn, who’s remembered for Valhalla Rising and the Pusher trilogy. It’s primarily a drama with a focus on The Drivers relationship with Irene and her son, but takes frequent forays into a multitude of other genres. The opening scene is a prime example of this, a getaway chase after a botched robbery by The Drivers clients. Despite the thrilling build-up of tension, the quick tick of a watch, the beep of the open door indicator and Goslings slight worry hidden under a face of complete coolness and control, the chase doesn’t involve loud cars and handbrake turns around corners. Instead we’re treated to something of an arthouse action scene as the driver evades patrol cars and helicopter spotlights before shaking the off the police by synchronizing the getaway with the finish of a local baseball match. There is no denying it’s is a sublime scene, but it doesn’t entertain in a conventional matter, very much setting the groundwork for the rest of the film.

Seeping from every pore of Drive is an innate coolness that is worked into every frame of the film. The Driver nonchalantly chews a toothpick for the most of the film, staring into space. Many of his encounters with other characters involve lots of silence and awkward eye contact. It’s almost a competition of sorts, who can pose in the most stylish way possible in order to make their on screen counterpart look inferior. This is largely due to a minimalistic script, in which dialogue is used as sparingly as possible. Each line is carefully chosen, almost as if he’s afraid to waste any words in a sentence. We don’t need to have Irene talk about her unhappy marriage when we can gain this information from her husband’s story about how they first met.

Augmenting the films ice cool attitude is its stellar soundtrack, a glorious sample of 80’s club techno that bursts into life at precisely the perfect moment. Its no secret the film wears it love of this bold decade for all to see-its title font for instance- but the choice of songs seem inspired. When Real Human Being fades in as the sun peaks into shot while Gosling and Mulligan drive down an abandoned storm drain, it feels like Winding Refn is in complete control; the master of his retro universe.

While Drive feels so very fresh faced in a crowd of getaway films, it occasionally stumbles when it turns to convention, a dull decision made worse by how unique the film actually is. A development in the second half makes the antagonists off screen east coast mobsters, an unseen presence that lazily drives the plot forward. This also demeans Perlman and Brook’s wonderful work as the bad guys, both of whom seem less of a threat when they themselves have their own, bigger enemies. The finale is also an issue, bordering on unsatisfying anticlimax. These factors coupled with the uneasy exchanges between characters makes the first viewing of Drive is relatively hit and miss, though this shouldn’t be a deterrent for watching the film a second time. The more times it is seen the more it can be understood, and this layered approach is partly what makes Drive on of the best films of 2011.

8