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Review

When I was in high school, a well done action movie or other type of thrill ride film could get me so excited that I would literally jump up out of my seat when the end credits came up and high five whoever my viewing companions happened to be. Naturally, the post-film high five was the highest token of respect a film could get. Many years have passed since then and a life of paying bills and watching slow international art cinema had seemed to have sucked that enthusiasm right out of me. Needless to say that the moment the end credits came up for Drive, I was more than a little surprised. Not just because I'd just seen an American action film that I unequivocally loved, but because I'd actually high fived my wife. Yes, sorry if I'm gushing a little, but Drive really is that good.

Ryan Gosling stars as "The Driver" (no other name is given), a loner Hollywood stunt driver who moonlights as a getaway driver and whose only friend is a shady garage owner played by Bryan Cranston. Like all good movie action hero loners, "The Driver" has a bit of a code that keeps him isolated from his fellow criminals. As far as non-criminals go, he has basically no one. Eventually, he notices his neighbor (Carey Mulligan doing her best Michelle Williams inpression) who is beautiful but apparently has had quite a rough life. Eventually, "The Driver" gets involved in a heist plan with his neighbor's just-out-of-jail husband and, naturally, it does not go as planned.

Sure, it's not the most original plot in the world, but plot and dialogue (of which there is very, very little) are not what make Drive such an exceptional film. Director Nicolas Winding Refn floods the film with a European art film sensibility. No scene is rushed and as much attention is paid to the framing of each shot as it is to Gosling's constantly perfect hair. Also, in terms of strange flourishes, the soundtrack sounds like liquid '80s synth happiness distilled through a French dream pop sensibility. Listening to the music in Drive can be dangerously addictive. Finally, the film eschews any distinct shades of good and evil. Yes, Gosling and Mulligan are essentially good, but other characters do not behave as expected at all. So, with all I've just said, you'd be forgiven for mistaking Drive as merely a pretentious European re-envisioning of the action film through a spectrum of minimalism (Winding Refn won Best Director at Cannes for the film). But, you'd be wrong. What makes Drive, a film destined to be either a cult or bona fide classic is that it isn't just all of the things described above, but it's also a spectacular action film - the perfectly edited opening sequence is a work of sheer adrenaline-pumping genius. If your tastes run more towards the "wisecracking action hero sputtering catch phrases while jumping out of burning buildings" or the "giant talking robots collide together in space and leave massive wakes of destruction" types of action, you might find yourself perplexed by Drive, but if your tastes are just a little more adventurous, then you might fall in love. Yes, I know - I'm gushing, but Drive really is that good.

 -- Daniel Reed