Drive (2011) review

Drive (2011)

Review by George Elcombe

“A hero and a human being”

Many journalists and friends called this film their movie of 2011. From the director of Bronson (2008), I was expecting many long, beautifully framed shots and enriching character development. I was also expecting more car chases and violence.

I made the mistake of watching the trailer (which like most trailers spoil the whole film! If I was the editor working on a trailer, I would only use footage from the first 75% of the film, but that’s another rant for another day) in the hope it would give me an idea of what the film was about other than ‘cool’. A nameless driver: mechanic and stunt driver by day, getaway driver by night. He works by his own rules and there is no shadow of a doubt that Ryan Gosling is cool in this film. How? He is the modern day cowboy. Mostly silent, rarely blinking, toothpicks, and although he lives and works in a world of sin; he always endeavours to be on the good side of things. The lone hero.

And then there’s the scorpion jacket (cool), which I’m glad is explained near the end of the film. There has been a lack of big action stars these day, with 300 (2006) restarting the craze for ‘real’ men hacking the crap out of each other in the mist of ‘roid rage’. This was fine for the 80’s, but this is the age where men wear moisturiser, there are stay at home dads and men with feelings and hair products. The Driver incorporates both. He’s caring to strangers and there is a glimmer of hope that he will get the girl. But it seems he doesn’t have a lot in his life and is exploited by his boss and the world but he doesn’t seem to let it get to him. But this is a guy that I would not like to get on the wrong side of. His silence portraits a mix of shyness juxtaposing a brute with little need for words.

One good deed to help out his friend and her son turns his world upside down, but like a man, he sets out to rectify it immediately utilizing all his resources and not wasting a second. He also has a hammer.

The look of the film is fantastic. As predicted; lots of beautifully framed static shots add depth and fear to these scenes. Just like Irreversible (2002), I find that the longer a shot is presented unedited, the more realistic the film can be. There is a lot of slow motion which had me thinking of Garth Marenghi’s Darkplace (“sometimes episodes ran under, so we used a lot of slow motion. Everything without dialogue was considered for slow motion) but the bit with Christine Hendricks (Mrs Reynolds) made me rewind to appreciate the true impact of that shot.

Which brings me to the violence. I am desensitised to violence on film. When one character dies it in this film, I was not angered or shocked: I was relieved. But judging by the trailer I didn’t find this film too violent at all. What I did find is that this is one of the most suspenseful films I have seen and it is one of those gems which blurs the line between art and film. 

Overall I would recommend this film to everyone. I don’t want to hype it as everyone should have their own interpretation before watching it and I advise people to not watch the trailer.

An engrossing film that all should watch.

9 out of 10.

If you like this try:

There Will Be Blood (2007)

Bronson (2008)