Here is something different from me; I may do this once in a blue moon; it certainly won't be a frequent thing. I decided that before I watch the VERY divisive Only God Forgives via On-Demand (Xbox Video, to be specific) I should revisit the previous effort from Refn and Gosling, which I hadn't seen since I watched it on the big screen in the fall of '11. I'll copy and paste below what I had originally written; that'll be in italics. Then, I'll add tonight's thoughts at the bottom.
Drive (2011)
Runtime: 100 minutes
Directed by: Nicolas Winding Refn
Starring: Ryan Gosling, Cary Mulligan, Bryan Cranston, Ron Perlman, Albert Brooks
From: FilmDistrict
Here’s a movie I’ve been hearing a lot about this month. After some people saw it, they lost their minds and unleashed some rather strong statements about how great the movie was, calling it a classic and that sort of thing. Always a skeptic, I wasn’t sure what to think. I know that I enjoyed the 80’s motif the movie had and what I heard of the soundtrack was awesome, as it was 80’s synth pop and that’s always a good thing.
Last night I finally went and saw the movie to see if the hype was warranted. Before I get to the film itself, I have to mention that I thought I would get to see it with no problem as I went to the local Cineplex which is usually not a busy place; some other people were at the screening also and as it’s Florida, a few of those people were Troglodytes and just acted stupid. I swear that my opinion on the movie was not colored by my less than ideal experience while watching said movie.
To try and be brief, this is about a stunt car driver named Driver (Gosling) who also does some side jobs which could be called less than ethical, although he also works for a mechanic pal (Cranston). He meets up with a neighbor (Mulligan) and her young son. Her jailbird husband (Oscar Issac; for some reason his name is Standard; was he named after Standard Oil?) comes back from prison. He quickly gets himself into trouble so Driver tries to help him out to be nice to his new lady pal and her son. The fit hits the shan, and… but I don’t want to give too much else away, except that some unsavory characters are seen (Perlman and Brooks, both delivering memorable performances).
One thing I can say right away is that everyone there to see the film-me included-were quite surprised at just how violent this was. There are some REALLY graphic moments. From what I could tell, the rest of the crowd did not seem to care for how the movie turned out. Me, I had a more positive view on it although I didn’t find it to be a classic or the best movie of the year or anything of that sort.
What I did like were the performances in general. This is the first movie I’ve seen Gosling in and I was really impressed. He wore an awesome silver scorpion jacket. The story was always interesting throughout. The 80’s synth music (actually modern songs with that particular sound) was tremendous and was an asset to the film. However…
This was artsy-fartsy at times; you know, long takes, silence, and that sort of thing. At times, even I was wondering why it was taking so long to get to the point. Even I was turned off by how graphic some of the scenes were. But it has to be made clear that this is one downbeat and dour tale. I don’t have a problem with that necessarily; it’s just that you should be prepared that this is the sort of story that isn’t cheery and happy. For you Christina Hendricks fans, her role in the movie isn’t as large as her che… er, I mean as large as has been advertised.
I also had some issues with how the last 15 minutes or so turned off; I can’t really explain it without giving away big spoilers; I just thought it wasn’t as good as what preceded it. You should also note that the movie doesn’t have as many car chases as you’d think given the subject matter; it’s a shame, given that what chases you do see are well-done.
So, this isn’t something I disliked by any means. I’m sure this will end up on the list of the 10 best movies I’ve seen this year (if only because I haven’t seen as many movies as others) but this definitely isn’t the best movie I’ve seen all year, like a lot of people are thinking.
I’ll be back Sunday evening with a new review.
Alright, now that I've seen it for a second time... I did not think the movie was as slow as the first time. I was fine with it taking its time and the first hour seemed to fly by. I still dug the performances, the awesome score, and it just looks very pretty, cinematography-wise. It was well filmed in terms of appearance, in other words. It has a great style. Knowing that there would be bursts of graphic violence, I was fine with that too. However, the reservations I have with how the movie ended are still present. There's just some goofiness that I wish wasn't present, and a shot that is stretched out for reasons unclear to me. While I wish I could love it and give it 5 out of 5 stars at sites like Letterboxd, I suppose I'll have to give it a 4 there, due to the strength of a number of aspects; I just wish I did not have those complaints and I wish those things would have been different.
Oh, and there's the theory that the reason why The Driver says little and acts aloof: he has Asperger Syndrome. When I watched it tonight I looked at it that way... if you don't view the movie in that fashion it does not really change things; I am just saying it is a reasonable explanation as to why Driver acts the way he does. It's more a fun "alternate film theory" than something that I am 100% sure is true.
I'll be back tomorrow night.
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