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Have my babies, Ryan Gosling

Drive is not your typical Hollywood action movie in that its sole purpose is not to entertain you.

The latest film by Danish filmmaker Nicolas Winding Refn, Drive is a slow, minimalistic, stylized and overwhelmingly cool action film that is immaculately crafted in every aspect. Every performance, every line of dialogue and most noticeably every shot is meticulous — sometimes so much so that the film seems inorganic. However, Drive is not a case of style over substance. Behind all the perfectly lit shots and pulsing synthesizer-beats is a complex film that is borne out of an intimate knowledge of film history.

Drive tells the story of the Driver (Ryan Gosling), a nameless wheelman working in Los Angeles. During the day he is a stunt driver for Hollywood movies and during the evening he works as a getaway driver for heists. His friend and mechanic/manager Shannon (Bryan Cranston) arranges both jobs and splits the cash with him.

One day Driver befriends his next-door neighbour Irene (Mulligan) and her son Benicio. However, before his pseudo-romance with Irene is able to go anywhere, Irene’s convict husband Standard (Oscar Isaac) is released from prison. Standard isn’t a thug himself but he’s involved with some bad people, owing protection money to some mobsters.

In an effort to protect Irene and Benicio, Driver offers to help Standard get the money and as a result, upsets some local mob bosses, Bernie Ross (Albert Brooks) and Nino (Ron Perlman), who resolve to have Driver killed.

Gosling’s Driver is a hero straight out of cinema history. Like Clint Eastwood’s Man with No Name or Toshiro Mifune’s Sanjuro, Driver is a mystery man defined solely by his actions — thus, his name reflects only what he does. Gosling has been building a respectable name for himself over the years with films like Lars and the Real Girl and Blue Valentine, but this year his popularity has really exploded. While Drive may not be the most obvious film for an up-and-coming A-lister to star in, the decision speaks to how Gosling is first and foremost concerned with making good movies.

Driver is not a role any actor could pull off. It calls for restraint, which is something most big Hollywood actors are physically incapable of. Luckily, with Gosling every subtle facial expression speaks volumes. Driver is a stoic enigma of a man and Gosling’s placid face and icy stare can read as menace or affection — or suppressed rage just waiting to be unleashed on a villain in an elevator.

Refn surrounds Gosling with an equally accomplished cast. Bryan Cranston and Carey Mulligan again prove that they can do no wrong, filling out their supporting parts with confidence. However, it’s Albert Brooks who really steals the show as the seemingly comical but truly disturbing Bernie Rose. Brooks is terrifying during some shocking scenes of violence amidst a film that already has many shocking scenes of violence.

And Drive is a violent film. In compact scenes later in the film, the screen explodes with grisly violence that shocks and disgusts more than it thrills. This lack of revelling in the violence is due to Refn’s desire to resist sensationalism, but it’s also due in part to the film legacy that Drive is riffing on. In many ways it’s a samurai movie like Akira Kurosawa’s Yojimbo. Just like the hero of Yojimbo, Driver is a man of mystery and the film offers no information about his past or his identity outside the events of the film.

However, beyond the characters just being similar archetypes, Drive is an action film like the samurai film that spends most of its time establishing the rules of its own confined world. Once the characters’ allegiances are established, the film bursts in little violent episodes where characters are eliminated one by one, leading to an ambiguous but satisfying conclusion.

It almost goes without saying that Drive is a stylish movie. From the brilliant pre-credits scene where Driver deftly navigates his getaway car to safety after a heist, Refn’s visual bravado is fully on display. Every shot seems ripe for a magazine spread and even the scenes of ultraviolence are exquisitely handled. The synth-heavy score by Cliff Martinez adds to the film’s overwhelming coolness.

Unfortunately Refn’s style occasionally overwhelms the story. In a few scenes, you’re left with the feeling that you have just witnessed a music video inserted into a genre film. Luckily, his stylistic embellishments mostly add to instead of detract from the overall picture.

Drive isn’t just a retro action film or the latest in a series of pretenders to Quentin Tarantino’s throne. It’s a lean, mean genre picture that has style in spades. It may leave some viewers feeling cold, but Drive builds on a great film tradition and is a rare treat of a film that will leave you thinking that Ryan Gosling may just be the coolest man alive.

Drive is currently playing at Galaxy Cinemas.

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image: Bold Films