Well first lets talk about the fact that I have never heard of Nicolas Winding Refn before in my life. The whole time I was watching Drive I was trying to figure out from the way in which it was shot, whose signature directing style this was but I could never pinpoint any one director. When I Googled the movie I felt sure someone familiar would pop up but this is the first I’ve ever heard of the Danish director. I look forward to seeing what else he can do because if “Drive” is any hint of what’s to come, he’s destined for big things.
Shot in L.A. in a style owing much to film noir style “Drive” announced itself with a dark and emotional type of cool. It's particular brand of sexiness, and graphic violence along with moments of intense vulnerability never loses continuity. It is at the focal point of this film which is framed with great regard and homage by driving and cars. It is played expertly by everyone, not to say the least by it’s star Ryan Gosling who is just mesmerizing as a nameless character known only as “The Kid”, in how much he can get across the screen by appearing to do so little. The thing I was struck by immediately was the way his eyes can so from an unquestionably dead and defensive coldness to an exposed rawness that evokes both fear and protectiveness on equally convincing levels. The juxtaposition of romantic love and violence in one unforgettable elevator scene was produced at an operatic level. In every shot, in just about every frame of the film, there was a detail that contributed to the building of the story. Nothing was wasted.
The storytelling use of light alone in this movie was done to near perfection. There is a clearly intended although not heavy-handed use of lighting on Gosling in particular from windows and lamps. It is the kind of light that sets up romantic and introspective notions of the "Hero" when in fact there is much about the character still in question well after the story’s end not to say the least of which is his name. It is film with moments of deceptively deep silence with understated and contemplative segues which are pushed and deepened with well composed musical scoring, spare, economical dialogue and explosive but strategic bursts of unsettling violence and rage.
Albert Brooks who has always been a favorite actor of mine gave an incredible performance as my favorite kind of villain: the kind you almost understand cannot go against his nature. He prides himself on speaking in realistic terms and you might almost believe him except that his bottom-line: power, is immovable. There is nothing he will not do in its name. I feel that Brooks’ dramatic talent has been passed over so many times by the Academy perhaps because he got his start as a comic actor but for me, it has always been his own unique dramatic information of his characters that makes his comedic performances unforgettable. He has been and is an actor of high caliber. Veteran actors, Ron Perlman and Bryan Cranston were equally amazing in holding this story to all its promise of suspense, violence betrayal and humanity. I’ve never been a fan of Carey Mulligan but she was fine as the love interest to the driver and mother to the son of her jailed husband also played exceptionally well by Oscar Issac.
The score of the movie was yet another character. The hypnotic, synth based tracks by Kavinsky & Lovefoxxx and College as well as the wonderfully paced score by Cliff Martinez places your imagination somewhere in the mid to late 80s between “Pretty in Pink” and “The Breakfast Club” but this is no John Hughes flick. Drive never makes any overtly clear dedication to nostalgia. In fact there a bit of a perverse irony in watching a movie like this to the sentimental and idyllic sounds of 80’s inspired pop music which I feel may have been intentional. While I feel that Drive is deeply sentimental, it is also unflinchingly dark, drawing you ever closer to some decidedly disturbing element that you never quite understand before setting you adrift again.
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