Review of Drive (2011) by Paul V — 24 May 2015

The honest reason I watched this movie was because I somehow came across the soundtrack on Soundcloud and instantly fell in love with the music, usually movies with great soundtracks are decent in my experience and this didn't disappoint with these songs carefully placed throughout the film pairing up with the scenes beautifully.

It begins with the Driver (Ryan Gosling) the enigmatic character that works as a Hollywood stunt driver whom also moonlights as a getaway driver. ?He soon finds himself falling for the girl next door (typical), single mother Irene (Carey Mulligan) whose husband is in prison. Although it's the usual boy meets girl story it felt refreshing to have a subtle kind of flirtation (not much dialogue between the two) but this was made up for with careful consideration towards music and sly... how should I put it? Letting the eyes do the talking camera shots.

When the inevitable happens and the husband is released from prison we're now guessing how can they get together now? Things take a turn for the worst. As the husband begins to be harassed by L.A. gangsters, the Driver is forced to help when the family are threatened.

When carnage soon erupts and The Driver soon finds himself standing in the middle of a mafia affair, he is the only one who can save the family and this is when he begins to show his darker side. Amongst the romance, gore and action Ryan's shift from the quite enigmatic type to the slightly unhinged psychotic warrior was immense! Another character that shone during this phase of the movie is Albert Brooks. Albert Brooks portrayal of Bernie is awesome he somehow brings alike-ability to the character whom is essentially a murdering gangster who is under pressure (trying to fix somebody else's problems).

With an audience friendly time of 96 minutes (if you enjoyed this as much as me you may have wanted more!) This movie really ensnared me with intense drive scenes, innocent romance and the brutality of it all. This movie really did have me guessing on how it would end.

Must see!