Movie Preview: Drive
By Michael Vass | September 14, 2011
We have been away for a while as the summer has been filled with political shake ups (covered at our political commentary site VASS) and more recently the floods that have hit Upstate New York. But we wanted to get back on the horse.
Drive looks to be a stylish and intense take on the resurgent getaway movie. While films like The Transporter took the genre into a more action focused realm, with great success thanks to Jason Statham, it is not where Drive lives. In fact the film is unique in that is is not exactly a remake of the 1978 drama Driver starring Ryan O’Neal and Bruce Dern. At the same time its not quite original either. It’s almost a retcon of the ’78 film.
Like Driver, this film is focused on the driver of getaway vehicles for crimes. He is virtually silent during a getaway scene, focused, and very very good at what he does. He doesn’t carry a gun, as he says, and he doesn’t participate in the crimes. He just drives.
But in this modern version, Ryan Goslin as the driver, expands the role. We learn that he is also a stunt driver. Which explains his skills and lack of fear. We get more of a backstory to the character and what motivates him. To an extent.
Whether anyone who has seen Ryan O’Neal’s version of this same type of character finds the additional explaination beneficial is a different conversation. But Goslin definitely takes his cue from the older film and plays the role with the same type of intensity and tesnion that makes the film work.
One great example is the movie trailer below. Where we get to see the start of a getaway. Goslin does a great job of leaving the silence and tension of the situation, letting the background sounds filter in clearly and setting the stage. There should also be accolades for director Nicolas Refn.
Also unlike the 1978 film, this film adds a love interest and a motivation to take care of a family in need. This is somewhat like the sub-plot in 3000 Miles to Graceland. The bad guy with a soft spot for a kid. But the film does not over play this sentiment, giving just enough to move the plot along and keep the audience interested but not detracting from the real direction of the movie.
The film takes an interesting twist with the inclusion of a double cross gone bad. Good for our driver, bad for the mega-villian of the film (played by Albert Brooks in a nice turn on his usually wimpish roles). Ron Perlman also appears as a right-hand to Brooks.
There are a lot of great elements in this film. The camera work appears to capture the feel of the tension that our driver is experiencing. The lighting and setting keeps thing from getting out of snyc. The minimalist writing is perfect for creating the mood and depth of the character.
While this is not on the same caliber of the portrayal by Ryan O’Neal in Driver, Ryan Gosselin makes Drive both a pleasurable film and his own mark on the getaway genre.
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