Review of Drive (2011) by Ash-Lord — 18 Nov 2013

I find it rather odd that in my 2 years on this website, I have yet to write a full length review for this movie. Ever since I began commenting on this site, I've been singing praise about Drive. Hailing it as a modern masterpiece, much to a certain users annoyance (you know who you are lol). It's about time I go in-depth as to why I think Drive is so good.

The acting from Ryan Gosling is often made fun of, but I think it's a brilliant nuanced performance. This is best shown after the infamous elevator scene when he gives a sort of sad puppy dog face to Irene that looks like a combination of sadness, regret, and insanity. Carey Mulligan turns in another very quite performance, that is still very effective. Albert Brooks is great in the film as well. The rest of the supporting cast, consisting of Bryan Cranston, Oscar Isaac, Christina Hendricks, and Ron Perlman, do a fine job as well. There is a pattern with all these performances, they are all very subtle and quiet, but when shit hits the fan they are all extremely emotional. It reminds me of a quote from The Dark Knight that goes, "In... you see, in their last moments, people show you who they really are." that line perfectly sums up the performances in this film.

The direction from Nicolas Winding Refn is excellent. He is a visual master and really knows how to turn down the intensity even in dire situations for beautiful moments like the elevator scene. The plot is very thin, but Refn executes it so well that it feels very unique and interesting. The writing is pretty good, there aren't many scenes of deep dialogue, but when there is it's usually pretty great. The cinematography is incredible, every single shot feels very well thought out and even the smallest details mean something. The music is AMAZING, it has one of the best, if not the best soundtrack I've ever heard. The songs used are very 80's synth-pop sounding and it makes the film incredibly cool. The score by Cliff Martinez is phenomenal as well, it's very subtle like the rest of the film, but it's also deeply affecting and adds even more the the emotion in the film. The editing is pretty good, shots are held sometimes for too long and add a sort of unintentional hilarity at times. I mean, I'm all about holding shots for emotion, but damn they overused it. At one point I thought it froze. Off subject for a second, my computer froze as I wrote the word "froze". Weird... but I digress. The action is handled very well, all of it is thrilling and rather unexpected. Seriously, this movie has a wild burst of gory violence every 20 minutes. Anyways, this movie is excellent from a technical standpoint, especially in the cinematography department.

This movie is one of my all-time favorites as I've said before for all the above reasons. It's story may be simple, but it's the execution that really makes it shine. It's so smooth and stylish, yet so grim and gritty.

Overall: Great performances, directing, music, and cinematography make Drive a near modern masterpiece.

FINAL SCORE: 10/10 CERTIFIED KICK-ASH!