Review of Drive (2011) by Jed G — 21 Jul 2014
The opening of Drive promises a tense, stylish, minimalistic thriller, with long set-ups resulting in quick, engaging payoffs. If only the whole movie were this enjoyable. While the lingering, stripped-down scenes recall a time before action movies required some spectacular setpiece every ten seconds, "Drive" should go somewhere.
On the plus side, the zen-like minimalism places a premium on every line of dialogue and makes every gunshot blast like, well, a gunshot, but, on the minus side, this same quality makes the film predictable.
The moment the second car pulls into the parking lot everything to follow is obvious. Frequently the (otherwise good) soundtrack speaks more than the characters, needlessly, including a song which repeats "be a human being," ironic since there are so few on screen, most are meat waiting for the butcher.
There is much to enjoy in Drive, but too often it substitutes artsy pretensions and retro genre styling for quality.
This review of Drive (2011) was written by Jed G on 21 Jul 2014.
Drive has generally received very positive reviews.
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