Saturday, February 11, 2012

DVD Movie Review: "Drive" (2011)


Clutch.

Your mileage may vary, but MM suggests you fasten your seat belts and let this uber-artistic, stylized indie film take you on a ride of striking images that will stretch your expectations of what an action film can do and be.  "Drive," helmed by Danish director Nicolas Winding Refn and anchored by rising Canadian star Ryan Gosling (of Internet meme fame), is a compelling combination of arthouse and thriller.  




This is a cine-phile's action movie, and it's about as far away as you can get from the loud, noisy, dumb chaos of "The Transporter" and the Fast and the Furious flicks.  "Drive" is meticulous moviemaking of a particularly brutal beauty, and it demands that you engage your mind as well as your eyes, along with a strong stomach and -- would you believe it? -- patience (it will be rewarded).  There's an elemental, slick aesthetic about the production, and all of it revolves around "the Driver," Gosling's nameless role as laconic, mysterious figure more akin to the loner of old Westerns than to the flashy action boys of the modern movie.  Overall?  Not every action movie appears at the Cannes Film Festival, much less receives a standing ovation.  "Drive" did.  Come see why. 

Bonus: a great soundtrack with plenty of electronic sensibilities.  "A Real Hero" by College and featuring Electric Youth is especially striking.

Mad Minerva gives this film a grade of A-.

"Rotten Tomatoes" gives "Drive" the undeniably fresh rating of 93%.

The official website is here.

"Drive" runs 100 minutes and is rated R for strong language and violence, some it graphically brutal.  

Here is the trailer:

2 comments:

Ailla said...

So many of my co-workers at DISH have been urging me to watch Drive since DISH has it in HD. They say that overall it’s a great movie, and that the car chases were spectacularly filmed. Now, after reading your review, I’m going to watch it tonight because Drive isn’t going to be another Transporter or Furious movie. I want to watch an action movie that is well written with depth and it sounds like the Drive fits that role!

Mad Minerva said...

Have fun! Parts of it are pretty violent, but overall it's a different kind of flick, and the casting is just great.