Existentialism is a key component in the 1970's films that Drive emulates. The silent lead. The long scenes driving. The lack of reason within the movie. All are key components of Danish filmmaker Nicolas Winding Refn's picture. He takes a silent anti-hero and shows that sometimes people really don't change. Drive follows a Hollywood stuntman/getaway/hopeful race car driver, known simply as The Driver (Ryan Gosling), as he grows close to his neighbor, Irene (Carey Mulligan) and her son, Benecio (Kaden Leos). He ends up becoming involved with her ex con husband, Standard (Oscar Isaac), who is involved with a typical crew of gangsters, who happen to be the funding behind Driver and his mechanic's (Bryan Cranston) racing ambitions.
The film opens slowly and remains that way for the first two acts. The movie is paced out slowly, with events happening just fast enough to keep the audience engaged, while still holding the silent moments. Most of the picture is dialogue free, and The Driver utters almost no full sentences. The one scene that does have a full conversation between his character and another feels a bit awkward and “wordy” though in another film it would still be considered a short dialogue scene.
The actions of The Driver seem at first to be a bit random. Yes, it's clear he has feelings for Irene, but The Driver goes to excessive trouble to help her husband out of his trouble, even though he is the competition. The Driver brings up an old fable about a Scorpion who is helped across a river by a frog only to give into his nature as a scorpion and stab the frog midway, killing both himself and the frog. This fable seems to be where the film takes its central theme about nature. The film also harkens to Albert Camus's classic existential novel The Stranger, and the seemingly random acts committed by Meaursault in that are reflected by The Driver.
The cinematography in the film also reflects the minimal nature of it. The way that the car chase scenes, in particular, are shot invokes not so much a tense sensation in the viewer but a sense of ease. They are long drawn out shots, smooth without the erratic camerawork that is often associated with action, in particular driving films, today. The scenes with violence are almost all shot in slow motion which gives them a ballet like quality, again luring the audience into a sense of ease, even as it pushes them away with the gore.
The acting in the film is top notch. Gosling takes a character with almost no dialogue and manages to turn him into an intriguing and compelling anti-hero. It pays into the old adage that less is more, though the statement is not entirely accurate. It is more like what he lacks in words is made up for with looks. The scene where we understand that The Driver and Irene are in love is one in which there are two sentences said, but the scene is three or four minutes long. All that needs to be said is said through the way they look at each other, or more accurately, avoid each other's looks. Albert Brooks and Ron Perlman as the gangsters are also high quality. Ron Perlman's character is the stereotypical gangster; loud, brash, interested in fast cars. Perlman makes no illusions about the character and plays him straight. Brooks is far more subtle in his approach to his character, Bernie Rose. As opposed to the usual unforgiving character that mobsters are, Brooks plays the character as a reluctant killer. Make no mistake though Rose is still a psychopath, just one that sees the murders he commits as tragedies. Though his part is not particularly large, Bryan Cranston's performance as the neurotic mechanic is noteworthy if only because he is the character who has known The Drive the longest and is used for little more than an exposition machine. The child acting by Leos is also impressive. Refn shows that children are best used when they can use their naturally expressive features. The film borrows heavily from earlier film genres. One film that critics seem to be comparing it to frequently is Quentin Tarantino's ensemble mobster film Pulp Fiction, though the comparison only goes so far in that both films are ultra violent and obsessed with the pop culture of previous decades. One of the most obvious aspects of the film, other than the main character's similarity to to 70's action hero's, is the 80s feel it has. The title comes up on the screen in a bright pink font, with 80's techno blaring in the background. The music is actually a very important aspect of the film, especially when it comes to the way The Driver is perceived by the audience. As opposed to blaring heavy metal (which seems to be the stereotypical driving soundtrack) he listens to big band/pop. All these anachronistic elements give the film a bit of a timeless feel.
For all that the film does right there are some elements that make it less than perfect. The third act of the film takes the style and feel of the first two acts and disregards them. Where the first two thirds of the film is deliberately paced the third act trades pacing for action and the film begins to feel disjointed. It could be argued that the swift change in the way the film unfurls is related to the way that The Driver is reacting to the mobsters. That's backed up by the way that the third act begins, changing The Driver from a passive character to an active one in an obvious and shocking way. However, deciding in the third act of a film that is entirely held up by mood to switch over and focus on character development seems flawed.
Overall Drive accomplishes what it set out to do. Throughout the film the mood is the primary force. The message of the film is clear, and the style shines through. Even with all that said it is not a perfect film.
