Shut up and Drive

Hello Everyone :-)

As you may have gathered over the past 11 months, I like watching films. There are some I’m perfectly happy to go and see on my own and there are some that it’s nice to go and see with other people. One such film was ‘Drive’. The showing was 10 o’clock on a Friday night and I went with one of my best mates (a fellow cinephile) to see what all the fuss was about.

The story is that of an unnamed driver (played by Ryan Gosling, we’ll just call him ‘The Driver’) who moves into a flat in Hollywood. He’s a stunt driver and car mechanic by day but moonlights as a getaway driver. The Driver starts spending time with his neighbour Irene and her son when he becomes embroiled in a robbery with Irene’s Husband who has recently been released from prison.  The robbery turns sour and The Driver sets about putting everything right.

I came out of ‘Drive’ unable to decide if I’d liked it or not, actually it felt like I was in a bit of a trance. It had obviously gotten my attention, I appreciated it and I thought it looked beautiful but did I enjoy it? Well it’s more than two weeks after my cinema visit and I’ve come to the conclusion that I did enjoy it. I think the fact it’s been playing on my mind for over a fortnight tells you a lot about ‘Drive’.

The central cast are great. Bryan Cranston (of ‘Malcolm in the Middle’ and ‘Breaking Bad’ fame) is really good as Shannon. He’s a kind of Father figure to The Driver but exploits him for cheap labour so he’s simultaneously a bit nice and a bit of a bastard (which works nicely as a microcosm for the whole film).
The never knowingly bad Carey ‘Sally Sparrow’ Mulligan (unsurprisingly) pitches Irene perfectly. She is naive but world weary and so very delicate in a way that few but Mulligan could deliver, anyone else would have sugar coated Irene which would have spoilt her wonderfully tender relationship with The Driver.
Speaking of The Driver, I’ve been a huge fan of Ryan Gosling for a while and in ‘Drive’ he didn’t disappoint me. He’s such a charismatic screen presence you can’t help but get drawn into his character’s story. Watching him as The Driver I was reminded of Gary Oldman’s in ‘Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy’ because it’s an equally stripped back performance and, like George Smiley, The Driver doesn’t have that many lines. The Driver embodies the idea that the world makes sense behind the wheel of a car and anything beyond that just complicates things so the dialogue is suitably sparse.

I have conflicting feelings about The Driver, mainly due to the level of violence of which he’s capable. It’s definitely a conscious decision on Director Nicholas Winding Refn’s part to make the two aspects of the Driver’s personality so disparate. In the scenes with Irene and Benicio he’s so soft and gentle (who can resist a man that’s good with kids) but when he’s with Blanche at the Motel he’s so scary, likewise the scene in the lift with the hit-man, he’s terrifying. Ultimately though you do root for him because none of the violence comes from a malicious place, he just wants to set everything right, but he’s by no means a squeaky clean superhero so fans of unambiguous, good vs. evil type films, tread carefully.

The look of ‘Drive’ is clearly important to Nicholas Winding Refn and I understand completely, aesthetic is key when films are this thin of dialogue. The colour pallet is very cold and in some instances quite neon which shows L.A off to its painfully cool, gorgeously urban potential.

Gosling and Winding Refn seem to be building a Tim Burton/Johnny Depp sort of relationship as Gosling is set to star in two of Winding Refn’s future projects (one due to start filming in 2012 is called ‘Only God Forgives’  and the other is a remake of ‘Logan’s Run’ which as of yet doesn’t have a production date). I’m fine with this. Winding Refn has got a great performance out of Gosling, very restrained and then totally animalistic, raw bursts of violence, they obviously have a great working relationship and as long as it keeps giving us films of this standard I hope it continues.

I’m not sure to whom I would recommend ‘Drive’ but, as long as you’re ok with pretty shocking levels of impromptu violence I’d say seek out a screening. Guaranteed to linger in your mind, part tender romance, part gangster film and part exploitation B movie; ‘Drive’ had me captive from start to finish.

I think we need some…

Reasons to be Cheerful
1. More is being eked out about ‘Shame’ starring the gorgeous Michael Fassbender. In an interview for the Culture Show (on the Iplayer till Friday 4^th November), the Good Doctor Mark Kermode spoke to Steve McQueen (no, not that one) who directed the film. ‘Shame’ marks the second collaboration between Fassbender and McQueen and looks set to be equally as fruitful. The first film by this cinematic union was ‘Hunger’ a look at the imprisonment of Bobby Sands, leader of the 1981 Hunger Strike. I won’t lie, it’s a tough watch but it’s so engaging and features a totally star making performance by Fassbender. ‘Shame’ looks like a brilliant companion piece to ‘Hunger’, one film about depravation and the other about uncontrollable addiction. ‘Shame’ hits UK cinemas on 13^th January 2012.

2. More ‘Dark Knight Rises’ Pictures! I think this is the first properly clear shot we’ve had of the Joseph Gordon-Levitt, we’re still not 100% on the significance of his character ‘John Blake’ but hey, it’s all exciting stuff :-)

3. Muppet Move Countdown! 101 days to go!

All I’ve got for you today.

Goodbye till next time :-)

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