Drive American Drama Film Directed by Nicolas, Drive is a 2011 American drama film directed by Nicolas Winding Refn that is adapted from James Sallis's 2005 novel of the same name. After an unsuccessful attempt to adapt the novel by Universal Studios, this project was greenlighted in early 2010. When Ryan Gosling, who plays the unnamed principal character, signed on, he was allowed to choose the director. A fan of his work, the actor chose Refn. Before filming began towards the end of 2010, Carey Mulligan, Ron Perlman, Bryan Cranston, Christina Hendricks, and Albert Brooks joined the cast.
Like the book, the movie is about a Hollywood stunt performer (played by Gosling) who moonlights as a getaway driver. Prior to its September 2011 release, it has been shown at a number of film festivals. At the 2011 Cannes Film Festival, Drive was lauded with praise and even received a standing ovation. Reviews from critics have been positive, with many drawing comparisons to work from previous eras. Praise has also been given to Gosling's and Brooks' performance. The director himself has said influences came from Bullitt (1968) and that Drive was a dedication to Alejandro Jodorowsky.
Drive has received substantial critical acclaim. As of September 17, 2011, it had a score of 93% on the review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes, based on reviews from 148 critics, with an average score of 8.3/10;[43] on Metacritic it had a weighted score of 80/100, based on 39 critics, which it ranks as "generally favorable". Gosling's and Brooks' performances, as well as Drive's aesthetics, were generally the most praised aspects of the film by movie critics. Rolling Stone writer Peter Travers considered this film to be the type to evoke polarized reception among its viewers.
Peter Debruge of Variety praised Drive for standing out from other similarly themed films whose visuals and narration fall flat. However, Debruge expected more driving scenes and found Mulligan to be a misfit for Irene. Todd McCarthy of The Hollywood Reporter called Drive a "tasty, if sketchy, modern noir with car chases and bloody action that should turn the trick for genre-seeking audiences." Noting Drive's marvelously assembled cast, he said Gosling takes on the right behavior for his role, making a bid to enter the ranks of Steve McQueen and Clint Eastwood. In contrast to Debruge, McCarthy found Mulligan to be a charming choice for Irene. Reviewing it for the Chicago Sun-Times, Roger Ebert wrote: "The entire film, in fact, seems much more real than the usual action-crime-chase concoctions we've grown tired of. Here is a movie with respect for writing, acting and craft. It has respect for knowledgable moviegoers."
Movieline's Stephanie Zacharek thought Drive defined the current standard for motion pictures, and Mike D'Angelo of the The AV Club gave it a "B+" rating, saying he will remember at least half of the movie's scenes for the rest of his life. Chris Lackner of the Vancouver Sun echoed a comment similar to Zacharek's, finding Drive to be a refreshing different change of pace, avoiding Hollywood's trite film formula routine. Awarding the film a four out five star rating, Orlando Sentinel journalist Roger Moore deemed Drive to be "the quietest car picture ever" and, based on what he had seen with this production, said he was looking for to future collaborations between the star and director. Jessica Winter of Time said the scene involving the twofer car crash makes Drive for a moment turn into "a lost entry in the Halloween franchise – Michael Myers Hits the Beach.
Karen Durbin of Elle praised the chemistry between Gosling and Mulligan, pointing out that Drive does not conform to typical male-entertainment. She also rebuked Refn for underusing Hendricks. Grading it a "B+", Entertainment Weekly reviewer Lisa Schwarzbaum clashed with Durban's opinion on the former, finding the two to never click. Despite giving Drive a high star rating, The Arizona Republic's Randy Cordova criticized how the plot and characters all easily come together: "It's all too neat; someone like John Sayles (Lone Star) could have linked these elements in a far more compelling way." Giving Drive four out of five stars, The Guardian's Xan Brooks observed the film to be quite "self-consciously retro" with a series "of cool, blank surfaces".
In his polarized analysis of the film, The New York Times columnist A. O. Scott believed its supporting performances saved Drive from tedium. "Drive is somber, slick and earnest, and also a prisoner of its own emptiness, substituting moods for emotions and borrowed style for real audacity. This is not to say that the movie is bad – as I have suggested, the skill and polish are hard to dispute – but rather that it is, for all its bravado, timid and conventional." Writing for the Los Angeles Times, Kenneth Turran praised several aspects of Drive but overall disliked the violence executed in it. Understanding that the level of violence is not uncommon for a Refn film, he stated that it was overdone, disquieting and "throws you out of the picture, diluting the mood rather than enhancing it."
A negative review came from New York magazine writer David Edelstein, who referred to the film as "higher trash" and deemed it to be as inane as Conan the Barbarian. Edelstein went on to chide Gosling for his choice to appear in the production and believed most viewers would watch solely for the popularity of Drive's actors. Another negative analysis came from the Chicago Tribune's Michael Phillips. Finding its pre-credit sequence to be one of the year's most gripping openings, he felt Drive goes from compelling in the beginning to "a muddle of ultraviolence, hypocrisy and stylistic preening" by the end. Neil Rosen of NY1 echoed the latter comment, adding that the violence shown in Drive came off as lackluster.
Synopsis :
Drive (2011), Director Nicolas Winding Refn (The Pusher Trilogy, Bronson) teams with screenwriter Hossein Amini to adapt author James Sallis' novel about a lone-wolf Hollywood stunt driver who moonlights as a criminal getaway driver. When the lightning-fast wheelman (Ryan Gosling) incurs the wrath of L.A.'s most dangerous criminal (Albert Brooks), the only way out of the mess is to put the pedal to the metal. Carey Mulligan, Bryan Cranston, Christina Hendricks, and Ron Perlman co-star.
Drive (2011) : Release Date: 09/16/2011, Rating: R, Runtime: 1 hr 40 mins, Genre: Thriller, Director: Nicolas Winding Refn, Cast: Ryan Gosling, Carey Mulligan, Bryan Cranston, Albert Brooks.
Reference :
- Hollywood.com
