Drive

I saw Drive a while back but it stays with me. 

I'd say I'm vaguely a Ryan Gosling fan, having been blown away by his performance in The Believer and to a lesser extent his performance in The Notebook (love it or hate it). I felt like he was an actor worth paying attention to. And Nicolas Winding Refn has been on my radar since I watched Bronson, where I first discovered Tom Hardy.  

But nothing prepared me for Drive.

Drive is propulsive, moody, colorful, well acted.  After watching it I immediately called my buddy and said, "I don't know what it is but I think I love this movie!" And was heartened when she exclaimed the same in return.


Drive just has this thing about it. It seemingly knows what it is portraying, see the song "A Real Hero" playing while the hero is literally driving around L.A. at night.

My Internet crush verbalized the mesmerizing traits of Drive better than I here. But I think one of the things about a Refn movie is that he manages to get amazing performances out of all his actors. I mean everyone in Drive is spectacular. I've never been a huge Carey Mulligan fan but she was spectacular in a role that could have easily been a stock Hollywood stereotype.

Christina Hendricks was really impressive in her cameo, Ron Perlman was heartbreaking, and Bryan Cranston continues to stun. See? You care about the characters. 


And I think that is what a good director does. He gets everything out of his performers. I've never been an Albert Brooks fan but he was fantastic. I left the theater and immediately wanted to go back in and see that movie again. And that never happens. Can't wait to see what he does next.