Drive (2011)

My friends and I go to trivia at the tavern every week. If you've never been to a trivia game at a bar, the person running the game asks a question, and you have the length of a song to answer it. Occasionally, the person who runs our trivia game plays "Nightcall" by Kavinsky and Lovefoxxx. I looked it up, and found out that it's the theme to Drive. I got curious and watched it.

It's frickin' awesome!

Originally, I heard "crime drama" and "Ryan Gosling" and said "fuck that!" After trivia, I read a synopsis of the movie and became intrigued. It's not like most movies or TV shows that bill themselves as "crime dramas." I assumed Ryan Gosling only did movies like the Notebook. I was wrong.

The main character, who I'll call Driver because I don't remember him actually being named other than "Kid," falls in love with his neighbor, Irene. She's married, but her husband, Standard (Is that really a name?), is in prison. When her husband is released from jail, he decides to leave his life of crime because "second chances are rare," but someone wants him to do another job for him. Driver decides to help Standard so Standard can move on with his life with Irene. The problem is that the criminal is (indirectly) Driver's boss. Chaos ensues.

In spite of my girlfriend hating on this movie the entire time, I thought it was great. It was realistic without being "gritty" in the Hollywood sense. Ryan Gosling (Driver) plays a stoic character very well. There were one or two lines that didn't work well, like when Driver tries to be a tough guy near the beginning, otherwise I thought the characters were cast and fleshed out well.

I know there are some people who might watch this because Christina Hendricks is in it. Don't bother if that's your only reason. She has about two minutes of screen time. She's really a minor character.

On the other hand, if you like Bryan Cranston, Ron Perlman, or Albert Brooks, you'll probably like them in this movie.

I know that there is a line going around the Web that the whole movie is just Ryan Gosling staring at the camera. I disagree. Gosling's character doesn't talk much, and when he does, he thinks before he says anything. Granted, Drive was more slowly paced than a typical modern movie, but I don't care. The characters were developed well, and the plot was interesting. I can't ask for much more. All in all, I plan on recommending Drive to anyone who is looking for something more than a typical ADD or T&A movie.

Drive has substance and potential to be remembered. Watch this.