Opinions On The Movie 'Drive'?

[zimbo]

I'm not recommending this one but what a strange movie. Shades of Miami Vice with video segments stuck in the middle of the movie. Then long periods of silence when the driver doesn't say anything and then some nasty violence thrown in. None of the characters are really likeable and the story is just plain weird. Any one else have an opinion on this one?

[mal paso]

I love this movie.



I recommended it to you (barely) a month or so ago when you wanted movie suggestions. At least, I think it was you.


It's definitely polarizing, but it harkens back to the golden days of 70's existential crime thrillers, a genre I happen to love


Anyway, fantastic violence. Is that weird?

[Jackson Jackson]

Loved it.

[kylejf90]

love it, its got a great taxi driverish vibe going. the book is alright and gives a bit more background on the driver.

[whitecat]

Loved it. The violence did get a bit cartoonishly gory but I thought the performances were terrific, especially Albert Brooks who I don't think I've ever seen cast as a baddie outside of 'The Simpsons'.

Great visuals though and great atmospheric synth-heavy score.

The pace was not an issue for me, I can see how the trailers though might have been a bit misleading about what kind of film it was (and I think some woman has even sued the producers over that).

Anyway, it's not perfect cinema but I enjoyed it very much nonetheless.

[J-man]

I liked it, but..

*SPOILER ALERT*

That scene where he gets stabbed.. Why the hell did he let that happen? He saw it coming..

None of my friends who saw it thought much of it..

[Driver3]

I liked it enough I bought the blu-ray after seeing it in the theater.
Not necessarily a huge Ryan Gosling fan, I thought he was ok in this.

[Skully]

I liked it, mostly because I'm a big fan of L.A. noir films. I liked what it wanted to be, which the filmmakers said was something along the lines of 1967's "Point Blank," starring Lee Marvin, a movie I love.

Unfortunately, I found the film to be way too self-conscious, particularly in regards to Ryan Gosling's character. He just wasn't convincing as a real human being. He was an artist's construct -- too emotionless, too myopically focused, too distant. I didn't buy Carey Mulligan as someone pathetic enough to be with the loser husband, either, although that might've been more due to bad judgments in casting and performance.

In "Point Blank," Marvin's character Walker has a similar intensity of focus, but it's on getting revenge on the man who double crossed him, took his wife and left him for dead and retrieving the money stolen from him. That's motivation we can understand. Gosling's character just wants to drive, man. It's pretentious b.s. That said, "Point Blank" is more arty and surreal than "Drive," as you can see from this trailer:



I've always been really taken with the way Marvin walks down the hall in the movie. I'd say to my wife, "Look at the way he walks down the hall. Is that baddass or what?" "That's nice, honey." Then I was talking to this screenwriter (no one related to "Drive") one day and he said he was really into "Point Blank." Me, too, I say. Then out of the blue he said, with this script he sold, he was trying to capture the essence of a tough guy walking down a hallway like Marvin.

[repeatofender]

I thought it was just ok.

[howlin]

Originally Posted by J-man

I liked it, but..

That scene where he gets stabbed.. Why the hell did he let that happen? He saw it coming..

None of my friends who saw it thought much of it..

I have to agree with your friends. I saw no redeemable excuse or reason for all gratuitous violence. That and the fact that anyone who's living in one of those apartments like the one he's living in - they don't look so good - and definitely not like that way they were tricked out to look. [Sorry. That's the down-side of having lived in LA. You see all the styling BS from a mile away.]

I agree with you too. That stabbing scene just made no sense at all. He should have been dead or at least been passed out laying on the ground in a pool of blood.

Really like Ryan Gosling too FWIW [Crazy, Stupid, Love; The Ides of March] but not this one.

[howlin]

Originally Posted by Skully

I've always been really taken with the way Marvin walks down the hall in the movie. I'd say to my wife, "Look at the way he walks down the hall. Is that baddass or what?" "That's nice, honey." Then I was talking to this screenwriter (no one related to "Drive") one day and he said he was really into "Point Blank." Me, too, I say. Then out of the blue he said, with this script he sold, he was trying to capture the essence of a tough guy walking down a hallway like Marvin.

Those moments are sublime. BTW - that was your 7,777th post. Cheers.

[kelnet]

I didn't mind the violence, but I wanted more from the character. I wanted to know how this guy became such a capable killer and how he ended up where he was. What caused him to live perpetually on the edge of snapping into murderous violence? No-one stomps a head into paste unless something has gone really wrong in his psyche.
There are two many inconsistencies in the film. The director wants us to like the main character, but then gives him horrific behaviour without explaining it. He wants us to believe that the driver is meticulous in his attention to detail and desire for anonymity, but then has him continue to wear a gore-covered jacket that makes him stand out and should raise questions wherever he goes.
In the opening scenes, why bother with the Impala? He is told, "No-one will be looking at you," and then he gets noticed right away. A clever concept, but forgotten in the need for a car chase. The director has some interesting little moments, but he doesn't tie them together very well, almost as if he's forgotten the previous moment and moved onto the next clever idea.
Lots of style. Not much substance.

[scrumley]

I liked it, I would've liked it more if it had more Driving in it. The brief driving scenes are marvelous. I don't know how you can have a movie named "Drive" with only a couple abbreviated chase scenes in it. The cat and mouse scene that opens the movie is brilliant, and the chase scene with the Mustang could've been the best car-chase in the past 30 years, but they cut it too short. It kinda made me long for what might have been. That said, I liked it. Albert Brooks was great. Ryan Gosling looks like a peanut, and the girl was pretty.

[Skully]

Perhaps the filmmakers (and the author of the book the film was based on) were going for something like writer/director Walter Hill's 1978 film "The Driver," starring Ryan O'Neal and Bruce Dern. Maybe they don't talk about it because it's a little too close to theft as far as the set-up goes. I saw the film when it came out all those years ago, and I remember it being rather boring and hollow, but it sure did have a lot more driving than in "Drive."



Boring trailer. Below is a chase scene. It's like the opening of "Drive," but with more action.

[chabby]

Originally Posted by repeatofender

I thought it was just ok.

I'm in this cam. I just saw the movie a week ago and have already forgot it.
It's just canned hollywood entertainment action vehicle.

What I'm taking more note of is how Gosling started out s this kind of add ball role character actor and is now suddenlt being thrust out of Hollywood as the next George Clooney. But Gosling just isn't that cool to me, he's got just a bit of nerd or Gorn in him and can never escape being Lars & the Real girl.

To see Gosling as this badass guy that Hollywood suddenly is casting him as lately is a reach for me. He started out in much different roles than what he's attempting now. He's done alot of work on his body, but I'm not sure which came first, the body, or the bad ass roles. I think after having success is RomCOm stuff and odd ball roles he finally had enough coin to hire a full time personal trainer and just went for it. So now he's got the body to go after these roles, but as a person, he just doesn't fit. They sold him too hard the other way first. Pitt and Clooney didn't have all these werido and/or RomCom roles before they became leading men, they just kind of fell right into the natural order of where they are as specimens. Gosling isn't naturally cool like them and already having the body, he had to go get it.

IDK - I respect him, but I'm not a big fan. One person mentions the term "myopic" with regard to his role in Drive, but Myopic is what Gosling has kind of built his career on.

[Brian blaut]

Originally Posted by J-man

I liked it, but..

*SPOILER ALERT*

That scene where he gets stabbed.. Why the hell did he let that happen? He saw it coming..

None of my friends who saw it thought much of it..

I agree with this ^^^^^^ (spoiler alert)
I really loved the movie. The bad 80's font was a bit too much in the beginning, but the opening sequences was really really great. His character was likable and in control, which made it all the more off putting when his rage over took him in the elevator.

The girls husband - played to be a bit of jerk that doesn't deserve her, then when he comes home, he's a truely great guy. Lovable, well meaning. Just wants to move forward and have a good life. I loved how that twist had me feeling bad for disliking him at first.

agree about the ending... He had a plane, knew the guy was completely ruthless, NOBODY in the audience trusted that guy, so why did he? Or did he just not care? Still I wasn't buying that moment. But I liked the movie very much. I respect Gosslin as an actor - for the range he played in that film.

[winny pooh]

Originally Posted by scrumley

I liked it, I would've liked it more if it had more Driving in it. The brief driving scenes are marvelous. I don't know how you can have a movie named "Drive" with only a couple abbreviated chase scenes in it. The cat and mouse scene that opens the movie is brilliant, and the chase scene with the Mustang could've been the best car-chase in the past 30 years, but they cut it too short. It kinda made me long for what might have been. That said, I liked it. Albert Brooks was great. Ryan Gosling looks like a peanut, and the girl was pretty.

Have you watched death proof? I didn't like it but the driving and stunts in the 2nd half and that insane woman Zoe are cool.

[scrumley]

I loved "death proof"! Saw it back to back with "Planet Terror"!

[J-man]

Originally Posted by scrumley

I loved "death proof"! Saw it back to back with "Planet Terror"!

I didn't care for Death Proof or Planet Terror.. Big fan of Tarantino/Rodriguez, though.

[chabby]

Gosling will always be the guy that didn't get the girl until everyone else did first (like in the Love Note, or whatever that James Garner film was with Rachel McAdams), or none at all, like Lars and the Real girl.

Now suddenly, he's James Bond (can you hear the gong in the distance?)
I just don't buy it. A six pack and new found body definition has drivcen his role selection in new, but not really believable directions, at least not for me.

He'll always be a myopic character with little ability to be understood through verbal queues. He was perfect in those flicks where his feelings are either repressed, or emotions left unexpressed, because once he opens it, it's not believable.

I guess to me this is in part, the price an actor pays for his earlier career choices.
I've type-cast him now and it isn't as an action figure. Rather,. it's as some kind of pathetic loser, or at least someone odd and non-violent.