'Drive'

'Drive' (R) (4 STARS) (Highest Rating)

Writer: Hossein Amini
Director: Nicolas Winding Refn
Starring: Ryan Gosling, Carey Mulligan, Albert Brooks, Bryan Cranston, Ron Perlman, Oscar Isaac

"Drive" is one of those movies that might satisfy film geeks amd major film buffs instead of the normal movie going public. It is not a movie you will just like or not care for. You will defnitely either hate it or love it and if you are into crime thrillers and are an adventurous movie goer you will love it. It is a near flawless movie because for it's genre it never makes a false move.

"Drive" has moments of violence that you will not see coming and when those moments come you will jump in your seats. Also if you are squeamish when it comes to gore you might be putting your hands over your eyes a lot. The gore is not explicit and a lot is left to your imagination off screen but it is still right there. It is ten times more effective than a movie like "Saw" or those torture porn movies. It makes those movies look like a walk in the park. It reminds me of a Quentin Tarantino movie with it's moments of dialogue and steadiness punctuated with violence. I am a big fan of Tarantino but here director Nicolas Winding Refn may have trumped Tarantino.

The story of "Drive" is nothing complicated and it seems like your typical crime movie. Ryan Gosling plays a stunt driver who is also a getaway driver for robberies. He gets involved with Irene who is a woman in his building and Irene's son Benicio. Irene's husband Standard is getting out of prison and the Driver gets involved in a robbery that is tied to Standard. The Driver also has his friend Shannon set up jobs for him. Also tied into the story is crime boss Bernie played by Albert Brooks and I think I will never look at Brooks in quite the same way again. Add to this another crime
kingpin played by Ron Perlman.

All the actors do a great job at setting up their characters flawlessly and for a genre, niche picture that is hard work. This is one of the best casts of the year headed by who I think is the best actor of his age working today. Ryan Gosling has a lot of quiet moments in this movie where he has to act without words and it is a subtle and powerful performance. Brooks is great at playing against type probably for the first time in his career. Carey Mulligan as Irene is solid again, Bryan Cranston as Shannon is proving himself a great character actor in motion pictures and Ron Perlman is also great here and very funny. Also in a small role Christina Hendricks from "Mad Men" makes an impression here in a very small role.

"Drive" also has a look and feel of a 70's or 80's heist/car chase movie where the car chase scenes are not inundated with CGI effects crap. There seems to be no camera tricks and the chases are executed like they are done solely by real stunt drivers. The movie is so great at lulling you into complacency with quiet scenes that suddenly explode into violence. It might strike some as Tarantino like but to some maybe much better. The violence is scary, unsettling and effective and I advise you not to eat a heavy meal before you see this.

I also love the use of music in this movie from the loopy synthesizer score that reminded me of Tangerine Dream to the eccentric choice of songs. The movie has a simple story but the execution of it makes it seem more exciting than just that. Director Nicolas Winding Refn has an amazing career ahead of him and his direction is near perfection here. The movie left me breathless and sometimes on the edge of my seat. It made my stomach churn and I enjoyed the acting and pacing so much. Now this is not a movie for everybody and some will hate it. The fact is "Drive" has a goal and it achieves that goal to near perfection. To me it was a thrill ride and I cared about the characters more than I should have. "Drive" is one of the best movies of it's kind I have seen in decades.

P.S. I agree with Roger Ebert that ratings are arbitrary and I give "Drive" 3 1/2 stars but I will see it again and that rating might go up to 4 stars. Again for a crime thriller it is one of the best movies of it's kind I have ever seen and is easily one of the best movies of 2011, you will probably see it on my top ten list.