DRIVE (2011) (review)

DRIVE (2011) (a review)

This is the hot new movie among cinephiles at the moment. Directed with a lot of style by Nicolas Refn and starring well respected actors Ryan Gosling and Carey Mulligan, with a supporting role by Albert Brooks that has people predicting Oscars. Also stars Bryan Cranston (Breaking Bad), Ron Perlman, and Christina Hendricks (Mad Men).

The story: Drive (never named but that's what I'll call him, aka Gosling) is a mechanic/stunt driver for the movies who is in love with the woman in the apartment next door (Mulligan). Her husband gets out of jail, but owes people money so to protect the wife and son, Drive agrees to be his wheel man while he robs a pawn shop. However the heist goes bad and the husband is shot and how Drive has to figure out who is behind it while protecting the woman that he loves.

Was it good?

Sort of. I can understand why some people seem to love it even though I didn't.

The first half I thought was very effective. It starts off with a cool cat-and-mouse car chase with Drive avoiding cops and then we get into his regular life as a mechanic and stunt driver. And, of course, his relationship with his neighbor Irene (Mulligan) and her son. It isn't much of a relationship -- they barely speak, but there clearly is an attraction and a bond. While this is happening his boss borrows money to buy a car so they (he and Drive) can compete on the race circuit and make big money and at the same time, Irene's husband gets out of jail, throwing a wrench into their relationship. While some people have called this part slow, there actually is a lot going on and I liked the focus on character. This, I think, was the strongest part of the film. It isn't done in a gritty fashion -- there is something lyrical and romantic about Refn's approach that makes this work.

Then the plot kicks in. The husband owes people money. Driver agrees to help with the heist. The husband is killed and Drive realizes that they had been double crossed. While he is trying to find there people and find a way out of it, the people of course are looking for him and looking for Irene.

Now some of this is good and some is bad. A lot doesn't make sense. Drive goes from not knowing who is behind it to walking right up to the guy. They present some mystery (who is behind it), but then skip over all the detective work. And it turns out Drive is not only a good looking guy and a brilliant mechanic and brilliant stunt driver, but he is also a killing machine as he tears his way through the bad guys.

All of which was kind of interesting, but the longer it went on the further the movie got from the things in the first act that really pulled me in. The relationship between Drive and Irene never develops or changes. The movie felt less like a story in the second half than a wind up toy -- they wound it up for the first half and then it just winds down until it is empty.

Part of the problem is that while the first half is effective, it is also pretty empty. The relationship between Drive and Irene works at first, because you can see why there two nice good looking people would like each other. However, as the movie descends into violence (and it does get really violent) you realize there really isn't anything to their relationship. A couple looks. Is he really doing this because she is pretty? I felt like we were supposed to feel that these were two lonely people who found each other and now Drive would do anything to save her...and yet that really isn't in the movie. She's a cute girl next door who he hangs out with twice. Is Drive supposed to be this lonely figure? We don't see him with other people, but we don't see him getting rejected by other people either.

So that emotion that is supposed to be pushing him through the second half just wasn't there for me. It felt like they were trying to do something like MAN ON FIRE or THE CROW, almost a revenge film where instead of revenge he is trying to save the girl, but the emotional core just wasn't there.

The first half I thought was really interesting. By the end, I felt like it had been an empty experience, one that had lots of cool stuff but didn't deliver on the emotion or depth that the director seemed to want by making a slow, character focused first half.

I think if you like more European art films, you might like it. Heck, you might even love it. But I think for most other people the movie is going to be a real let down. Still, the first half was strong enough that I think it's work seeing for a lot of people...

*** RENTAL ***