Drive
Composite Score: 82.03
Starring: Ryan Gosling, Carey Mulligan, Bryan Cranston, Albert Brooks, Oscar Isaac, Christina Hendricks, Ron Perlman, Kaden Leos, and James Biberi
Director: Nicholas Winding Refn
Writer: Hossein Amini
Genres: Action, Drama, Crime, Thriller
MPAA Rating: R for strong brutal bloody violence, language, and some nudity
Box Office: $77.19 million worldwide
Why should you Watch This Film?
Drive is the 2011 crime drama about a Hollywood stunt/getaway driver who ends up getting involved with the mob after a job goes wrong. It features Ryan Gosling as the nameless Driver, whose story becomes increasingly complex as he becomes more involved with his neighbor Irene (played by Carey Mulligan) and her ex-con husband Standard (played by Oscar Isaac). All told, Drive is a fairly straightforward crime thriller whose action, atmosphere, and characters have turned it into an increasingly popular cult classic. While its plot does very little that could be considered original, the film’s overall feel is that of something truly unique, making it easily one of the Greatest Films of All Time (and one of my personal favorites of all time).
Why shouldn’t you Watch This Film?
As stated above, very little of Drive’s story can be taken as original or contributing greatly to the crime genre in terms of plot. It is very straightforward, taking an impoverished main character who gets involved with the mob because the husband of the woman he loves is in deep with them and needs help getting out. The self-sacrifice of the main character then leads to revenge and showdowns with the mob bosses after he and the husband were set up on the job. Ultimately, the hero is unable to stay with the woman but is able to keep her safe and get rid of the mob guys along the way. It does not get much more straightforward than that story. This isn’t to say that having an unoriginal story makes the film unwatchable, just that its story is nowhere near the film’s main draw.
So wait, why should you Watch This Film?
For starters, the film’s characters are incredibly well done. Yes, basically all of them are archetypal characters, but those archetypes are portrayed so well and with enough originality that you can’t help but enjoy it. Ryan Gosling’s Driver is the quintessential “man with no name” who shows up to help Irene and her son while her husband is in prison. Gosling’s subdued acting in the vein of his First Man performance brings a quiet coolness to the character that captures that same intimidating charisma of the character trope that brought so much fame to Clint Eastwood in the 1960s spaghetti westerns. The difference (and what makes the character better in my opinion) is the character’s connection to the people in the story that goes beyond what he can do for them and what pay they are offering in return. The emotional side of this quiet character makes it a twist on the archetype that resonates even more deeply than that of the Sergio Leone trilogy. Carey Mulligan’s Irene is the damsel in distress who is by no means helpless. She lacks any kind of physical prowess or knowledge of the criminal underworld, but the film never condemns her character for these shortcomings and, in fact, wants to protect that innocence and does very little to force her into compromising situations, allowing her to be a mother first rather than a lover. Even Oscar Isaac’s Standard is a play on the trope of criminal ex-boyfriend (or in this case, imprisoned husband). When he is released and the audience is introduced to him, there is no indication that his behavior toward Irene or their son is in any way abusive or malevolent. Instead, his character’s situation as convict and criminal is seen more as something that has been forced onto him due to a combination of socioeconomic factors and bad luck. Isaac’s character reaps the consequences of his actions, but those consequences feel more tragic than justified, especially in their aftermath.
The other way that Drive successfully bucks its own generic plot is the film’s atmosphere. Synth music and bright tones play across the film consistently with slow motion shots coming before violent outbreaks and cameras lingering on characters as they sit in silence. With these factors, the film becomes something different than the crime films of Scorsese or Coppola; it becomes a modern crime film, differentiating itself not in story or themes but in overall feel. It is this atmosphere and soundtrack (particularly the “theme” by College ft. Electric Youth “A Real Hero”) that set the film apart, making it something truly unique in the crime genre.
By combining synth-y atmospheric music and cinematography with creatively twisted character archetypes, Drive elevates itself among crime films and films in general, making it one of the Greatest Films of All Time. The film’s overall simplistic plot does little to detract from its greatness and might even facilitate some of its originality in the process. This is definitely one worth checking out if you haven’t and revisiting if you have. It’s streaming free with ads on Tubi or to rent on basically any service you can think of.
