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‘Drive’ (2011) review

Directed by: Nicolas Winding Refn
Cast: Ryan Gosling, Bryan Cranston, Christina Hendricks

Drive first showed up on my radar while I was reading an interview with Aaron Paul (who plays Jessie Pinkman in Breaking Bad) in GQ where he mentioned in the context of his co-star Bryan Cranston (“Walter White”) acting in it. Ryan Gosling plays the role of an unnamed stunt driver who hires himself out as a getaway driver for heists. He moves into a flat next to Blanche (Christina Hendricks) and as a favour decides to help her ex-convict husband “Standard” (Oscar Isaac) pull of a heist so that Standard can pay off guys he owes money too. Not surprisingly, the heist goes bad and Standard dies, leaving Driver in a mess to deal with.

So far this sounds like a highly contrived setup and standard B-film fare. What makes Drive tick is that the action scenes are so subdued. The car chases aren’t a blaze of flashing lights and police sirens: they are both stealthy and high-octane in fits and bursts. Bold colours make scenes pop out, make them livelier. There’s a fair amount of gore too, as the film does not shy away from gushing sprays of blood in kill scenes. A little plot twist at the end springs a surprise on you too. Unfortunately, Bryan Cranston – my reason for watching this film – does not play a major role, albeit pulling off a convincing performance.

Rating: 6 / 10

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