DRIVE

‘Drive’, your typical boy meets girl, boy falls in love with girl, girl’s husband returns from prison, botched robbery ensues, followed by onslaught of gratuitous violence met by poetic narrative, so on and so forth.  Ok, so the film and typical are nowhere in same realm of existence, but that’s what makes it so f-ing good!  The story itself isn’t so hard to believe.  A lonely professional driver (Ryan Gosling) meeting an attractive neighbor (Carey Mulligan) and taking an interest in her life, and wanting to help her husband after he returns from prison.  Even the plot from there (and I won’t give anything away) is believable (except the fact Gosling received Seal Team 6 training before becoming a stunt car driver).  Hossein Amini penned the script, not being familiar with any of his previous works (either are you unless you saw the box office flop ‘The Four Feathers’, one of Heath Ledger’s early films in 2002), I can’t say there is much on the side of brilliance here.  The dialogue is wreathed in simplicity (not a flaw of the film, actually it helps the audience focus on the visual aesthetic, which is quite pleasing) and the pace is perfect.  The reason I say “not much brilliance” is because director Nicolas Refn and protagonist Ryan Gosling outshine every aspect of the film.  I also am going to go out on a limb and say this is the best film of the year so far, and by a sizeable margin (if the year ended today, and The Academy wasn’t infatuated with the political, Refn and Gosling would win best director and actor respectively).

Refn is somewhat of a newcomer to the big stage.  He’s been in the business since 1996 but other than ‘Valhalla Rising’ and ‘Bronson’ (of which I’ve seen a couple clips), which were both festival circuit successes but had little take home box office, has never been largely appreciated.  Hopefully ‘Drive’ can change that ($11 million on the opening weekend).  Refn ops for a blend lengthy dialogue shots, fast-paced graphic violence (I mean very graphic), tense periods of still shots, and in between it all, slow motion transitions accompanied by 80s-style electronica (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-DSVDcw6iW8).  As a friend pointed out it almost feels like live motion version of GTA Vice City (the pink themed title sequence, the score, and the violence all apparent here).  Refn creates a mood that resonates strongly throughout the film, and even if we can’t begin to relate to its circumstance, we inherently succumb to its prowess.

If my cyber-drool over Refn’s direction wasn’t enough to make you to drop everything you’re doing and see ‘Drive’, Gosling’s performance should.   Of all the films in Gosling’s catalog, I’ve never thought to myself “badass!” in reference to his characters.  There have been the funny, sweet and/or romantic (‘Crazy, Stupid, Love’, ‘The Notebook’, and ‘Remember the Titans’, his first big screen role, remember?), the troubled and/or emotional (‘Blue Valentine’, ‘Half Nelson’ (both critically acclaimed, and yes, parentheses within parentheses, I just did it), again ‘The Notebook’) but never “badass!”.  That’s changed.

From the “getaway” opening scene we can tell Gosling’s character (known only as “Driver” or “hey, kid!”) is cool, calm, and collected.  The first act gives us the background.  He’s basically been living by himself in LA and working as a professional driver for the better part of a decade.  Gosling whispers his lines, turning on his usually boyish charm when need be, and precedes every reply with a calculated smirk filled pause.  All that changes when the action starts, he’s quick to act and his tone is demonstrative and short fused to put it lightly.  His character, detached from society, is animalistic, based almost solely on survival.  This makes his scenes with Mulligan (acting with more subtlety than her recent roles) all the more powerful.  His scenes with the loveable single mother are the few signs of actual human emotion (see the YouTube link above for a perfect lyrical interpretation) we see in Gosling.  The remaining cast members do well to carry their weight but teeter on the unnecessary and definitely inconsequential in the great scope of ‘Drive’.
Unfortunately for you Oscar followers I think Refn’s profile is too low to get enough notoriety for a nomination, and most likely is a couple films away from recognition.  Gosling does have a previous nom for Half Nelson (and was robbed of one for ‘Blue Valentine’ last year) but due to his high profile role in the upcoming ‘Ides of March’ I don’t see a huge push from the studio (unless ‘Ides’ flops and there’s a weak field).  Hopefully, one way or another, he gets nominated for something, and although he may be due, it still might be a couple years early for Gosling to collect his first statue.

After the dizzying 1 ¾ hours are over you need another 2 just to digest what you’ve seen.  I probably will have to see it again to fully appreciate what Refn and Gosling have given us here.  ‘Drive’ splashes on a fresh coat of the visceral and takes us for a ride that is weirdly romantic, shamelessly and violently exploitative, and altogether disturbingly rewarding.  Go see the damn thing!


Grade: A

OSCAR CHANCES: 
Best Picture: Long Shot 
Best Director (Refn): Long Shot 
Best Actor (Gosling): Possible