On Twitter:
@JamesEppler"Drive" has much more going on than its deceptively simplistic title and plot would indicate. On the surface, it's a quiet love story that turns into a disarmingly violent crime drama.
Ryan Gosling is superb as the Driver. Like Clint Eastwood's Man With No Name, he has no past we know of, and all we learn about him is what we see him do, and that's drive.
He's a stuntman in the movies who moonlights as a getaway wheel man for criminals. His handler is a well-meaning, but shifty mechanic played by the terrific Bryan Cranston, and the two get mixed up with a brutal crime boss, played by Albert Brooks going against type with great success.
The dialogue here comes loaded - even the most benign comment can have malignant meaning.
Our Driver gets becomes interested in her his next door neighbor played by the wonderful Carey Mulligan, and he takes shine to her son, with dad locked up in prison. But when dad gets out, the driver gets roped into a criminal plot to protect the wife and kid from gangsters.
The script by Hossein Amini is spare with much of the interaction between Gosling and Mulligan playing out on their faces.
Danish Director Nicolas Winding Refn, pulling from a wide array of influences, drives the story his way - crafting scenes packed with romance and tension relying on elements like lighting and movement.
This genre picture simmers for a while until it boils and the scenes of brutal, gritty violence are effective, to say the least.
"Drive" is a stylized action movie - all mood, attitude and soul. Basically everything we didn't see over the summer.
EPPLER'S RATING: * * * * Out of five stars
