related items
- Running time:
- 100 minutes
- Rated:
- R
- Cast:
- Ryan Gosling -
- Driver
- Carey Mulligan -
- Irene
- Bryan Cranston -
- Shannon
- Albert Brooks -
- Bernie Rose
- Oscar Isaac -
- Standard
(3 ratings)
A Los Angeles man known only as Driver (Ryan Gosling) works as a mechanic and Hollywood stunt driver by day, and a getaway driver for criminals by night. Isolated and emotionally cut off, his only connection is with his car. Then he meets a neighbor, Irene (Carey Mulligan) and her young son Benicio (Kaden Leos), and bonds with them while Irene’s husband, Standard (Oscar Isaac), is in jail. All their lives get much more complicated when Standard gets out of prison, especially once he and Driver are both mixed up in a job involving local mobsters Bernie Rose (Albert Brooks) and Nino (Ron Perlman).
The buzz: “Drive” has been generating enthusiastic word of mouth since its premiere at this year’s Cannes Film Festival—where filmmaker Nicolas Winding Refn won the best director prize. A promotional stop at Comic-Con International and additional screenings at the Toronto International Film Festival helped rev up the hype. It’s quite a change for Refn, whose last two films—“Bronson” and “Valhalla Rising”—earned solid reviews but almost no mainstream media attention.
The verdict: A gripping crime thriller, aching romance and compelling character study made in an indelibly hypnotic style—“Drive” is one of those rare films that comes out of left field and floors you with impeccable artistry and raw emotional power. Refn finds the middle ground between the arthouse-only appeal of his early work and the demands of a more mainstream brand of action-thriller filmmaking, placing “Drive” in a unique place somewhere in-between. It’s not a lunkheaded fast and furious stunt show, or an entirely contemplative character study. Refn simply ensures you care about the characters before he gets your heart racing over their fate. He finds an ideal leading man in Gosling—an actor with matinee idol looks and a pre-established willingness to push boundaries in the likes of “Half Nelson” and “Blue Valentine.” In Driver, Gosling and Refn create nothing less than a cinematic icon: a mythological figure with no name, a man of few words, a lover and a fighter. Gosling establishes electric chemistry with Mulligan—who does touching work as a woman torn between two men—based not on romantic banter, but on how comfortable they feel in their silences.
Everything in “Drive” sets a supremely cool vibe, from the stunning cinematography to the seductive electronic music to the creative casting. In addition to Mulligan, Perlman turns an unhinged egomaniac into a funny and frightening figure, Bryan Cranston excels as Driver’s perpetually hustling boss and Christina Hendricks makes a vivid impression as a shady voluptuous redhead, but it’s Brooks who walks off with secondary honors after Gosling. As the seemingly gregarious gangster, Brooks nails the scary combination of charisma and cruelty that makes Bernie a top dog in the criminal underworld. For all of its mesmerizing beauty, “Drive” also develops into a brutally violent film—graphic but not gratuitous. These characters live in a dangerous world, and that threat is palpable as the action ramps up. Let “Drive” take you on a ride, it’s one you won’t forget.
Did you know? In one of those “isn’t it ironic” details, Refn doesn’t drive and doesn’t even have a license. He says he loves the sound of car engines and the feeling of speed in a fast moving vehicle.
Follow Metromix's Geoff Berkshire on Twitter: @geoffberkshire
Movie Trailer:
SHOWTIME LISTINGS
Movie theaters and showtimes for Drive in New York.
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