Drive @ Arclight Hollywood
The Movie 4 of 5 Kernels: A lyrical gem of a film who’s
simple script is confidently brought to life with a great sense of reserved
style and incredible performances.
The Pop: 5 of 5 Kernels
Popcorn layered, Diet coke, plus store bought M&M’s.
The Film
The
curse of anticipation was a looming specter for me and this film in the past
few weeks. When I heard about the combination of Nicolas Winding Refn and Ryan
Gosling along with the parade of excellent actors joining them it was hard not
to be excited. The marketing campaign and buzz surrounding the film marked this
as something special worth watching. So heavily burdened with expectations of a
fresh and great piece of filmmaking I sat down and let the film wash over me,
let me take it on its wild ride.
The
plot of the film is simple classic noir. Gosling is the Driver, a character who
would fit in an Ayn Rand novel, he drives for the movies and he drives for
criminals with a very limited set of conditions. The driver’s boss, Shannon, is
mixed up with some gangsters who back them to start stock car racing. Meanwhile
the Driver is falling in love with his neighbor Irene and her son. Then Irene’s
husband, Standard, returns from jail and he’s in trouble with some tough
characters, and they’re threatening Irene. The Driver offers to help Standard
pull of a heist and then things go epically awry and its up to the Driver to do
whatever it takes to protect Irene and her son.
The script is quite good, but
also nothing special, this film could’ve easily turned into a transporter rip
off if it weren’t for the talent brought to bear on the film. Gosling and Refn
have created something that flirts with the commercial, but really is a classic
piece of art house noir. The film’s skimpy plot is stretched out by long
expressive passages of the Driver’s existence, either him wanly looking out on
the city, or spending time with Irene and her son. The driving scenes are
excellent albeit simple and clever, they’re not trying to outdo the spectacle of
other film’s with cars dashing about instead the scenes are clever and concise,
every beat leaves you riveted. The film’s use of violence is awesome, there is
a gritty gory brutality brought to bear, so the violence really hits home
without feeling like the usual tawdry action movies.The film succeeds in the intangible,
it lives in the silent exchanges between its actors, the menace and love
screams off the screen. This work is a great synthesis of Refn’s earlier Pusher by way of his recent Valhalla Rising. There is the real world
gritiness, but also the slow lyrical build of emotions that keep you rooting
for the Driver.
The
Driver, Gosling is proving himself to be a dynamic firebrand of an actor who
you can’t take your eyes off of. The film revels in its languid medium shots of
its pensive star. Gosling spends most of the film wearing a mask of emotion,
never revealing anything except with his soft keen eyes. The entire movie is
based around Gosling’s underplayed subtle performance and the entire tone seems
to soften to match him. The film even in its moments of awesome brutality and
gore, never seems to pass judgment, but instead keeps you on the edge of your
seat, cheering for the Driver to overcome. Also Gosling and Carey Mulligan are
two actors who’s chemistry jumps off the screen and makes all the events that
follow make sense. The film underplays their relationship as well, letting the
actors do the heavy lifting for an unconsummated love story.
Did this film live up to my
incredible anticipation, sort of, I enjoyed the hell out of it watching it.
Reflecting upon the film really only improves it in my opinion as well. However
sometimes anticipation is so high that it simply can’t be quite met, and that
is sort of the case here. I think this is a truly special and unique film and I
was thoroughly entertained, but somehow I hoped for a film that would change my
life, and maybe this film did, but it didn’t feel like it. However the film did
inspire both deep emotion and deep thought about the nature of filmmaking and
that alone makes it more then worth the ticket price.
The Corn:
Arlight’s usual goodness, no complaints.
I would mention though that Hollywood’s parking prices have
gone up, so now its 3 dollars to park in their lot which is a lot for the privilege.
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