Drive

Drive was in theaters again for one day, so of course I grabbed a bunch of people and made them come with.

Seeing it for a second time was just as breathtaking as the first. A couple of the “shock” moments didn’t elicit the same feeling as they originally did, but were instead replaced by a much more frightened chill of anticipation for the upcoming brutality.

The first time I saw it, I was in love. The movie seemed near perfect, but I felt that my opinion was mostly biased because 2011, to me was the worst year in movies that I could ever remember. Anything halfway decent came across as being good, in comparison to the crap I saw that year. I was glad to see that I was wrong. Drive really is that good.

Where do I even start? The entire opening “chase” scene was brilliantly done. As soon as it’s over and Kavinsky’s “Night Call” starts to play over the title screen you understand that this film is not going to be cliched. Speaking of sound…

Sound is a very important part of this movie, more so than most films. The protagonist sparsely speaks, so you tend to pay more attention to the soundtrack and the ambience than you usually would. Drive does not disappoint. Every scene in the film is filled with intimacy and tension that blossoms at times and explodes at others in Tarantino and Michael Mann type fits of rage and violence.

The film beautifully balances romance and violence. 

The film is in a sense a neo-noir art house film…. if you have to give it a title. It makes not so veiled references to 1960’s driver films, all the while making Ryan Gosling’s character feel like a Clint Eastwood type silent (and nameless) badass, all the while being influenced by some of John Hughes 80’s films. I say the latter part because the lighting is fantastic. I believe that I wrote about the film when it first came out and my first impression was that the colorist should get an award, and I still agree with that sentiment. The colors in the film are some of the most beautiful that I have seen on screen.

What else? The cinematography and direction is stellar. The many different camera angles used (especially those in the car) never let you get bored and the fact that they avoided using any close-ups in the movie made it that much more scintillating. I would comment on the acting, but anyone that’s interested need only to look at the cast and they will have their answer.

If you have the opportunity, check it out on Blu-Ray. It’s a terrific little art-house film that both cinephile’s like myself and genre movie lovers will enjoy. Now excuse me while I go put the soundtrack on repeat while I sit in my roommates car pretending I am even a fraction as cool as Ryan Gosling.