Drive

Movie
2011

The first words out of my mouth after watching this movie were "there's two hours of my life I'll never get back". Obvoiusly I didn't care for Drive.

I was really looking forward to seeing this movie particularly since the reviews on Rottentomatoes.com were so glowing. It received near universal acclaim with a 92% positive rating on Rottentomatoes.com, a nearly unheard of level of love. Being a sucker for happy endings and uplifting sentiments maybe this movie wasn't made for people like me.

I will go along with most critics that the performances by Ryan Gosling, Bryan Cranston, Albert Brooks and Ron Pearlman were solid. But the aimlessness and pregnant still shots made sitting through many of the disconnected scenes quite tedious. It's not that the movie wasn't a linear path, it's just that too many scenes had zero resolution.
 
Carey Mulligan who played Irene, the "love interest", whom the whole tale surrounds was less impressive. It may have been that she looks twelve years old or the disconnect that such a wholesome lass could have been mixed up in such a dysfunctional life. Her character seemed out of place, a little too much of  a sweetheart.

It was the gratuitous violence that finally got to me. The Gosling character (whose name we never learn) went from a quiet, brooding young man with a heart of gold to a robotic killer in one short scene. His talent for killing and unprovoked violence rivals any government trained super agent with none of the background character development that would help the audience understand how he became so cold and efficient.

Unlike a Tarantino movie this movie had none of the ironic humor to help take the edge off the shocking violence, not that humor was ever called for in Drive. It did, however, have some of the visual and stylistic feel of a Tarantino film, and the soundtrack was very good. In the end that you ultimately don't care about any of the characters leaves an empty space in your queasy gut.

That the movie sticks with me means it had some impact - seeing Albert Brooks as the heavy was a departure from my notion of his venerable humor. Ryan Gosling will be a star someday, this performance cements that.


2 of 5 stars



CW