DRIVE

DRIVE (2011)
Grade: C
Starring: Ryan Gosling, Carey Mulligan, Albert Brooks, Bryan Cranston, Oscar Isaac and Ron Perlman
PREMISE: A withdrawn young man who develops feelings for his pretty neighbor has to protect her and her family from ruthless mobsters.

RATED R for strong, bloody violence, language, and brief nudity

Drive is exactly the sort of movie I hoped it wouldn't be. It's got an intriguing premise, some nifty action sequences, strong actors, and its composer, Cliff Martinez, could teach classes on how to create suspense with a busy, ominous, pulsing score, yet it ultimately feels a little too empty and bleak. Done more 'Hollywood' style, Drive would probably be longer, bloodier, funnier, certainly more talky, and it would probably have a happy ending that might feel a little unrealistic and kinda schmaltzy--but I would like to see that version. That's because I felt Nicolas Winding Refn's dark, frustratingly-silent film doesn't give you, as the viewer, enough to connect with, which is a shame, because it has the parts to be a great movie.

The only name given Ryan Gosling's withdrawn leading man is Driver, which is perfectly acceptable, since all we ever learn about him is that he spends time around cars--he works in a mechanic's garage, gets some extra cash working as a stunt driver for film productions, and occasionally moonlights as a getaway driver for local criminals. His boss and friend Shannon (Bryan Cranston), brags on him and believes that he could do anything with cars, even move up to the big-time racing circuit, provided they get a little financial assistance from a pair of local mobsters (Albert Brooks and Ron Perlman). Driver, an exceptionally-quiet individual who lives alone, knows enough about cars to see, about 20 minutes into the film, that the ratty old car belonging to his pretty neighbor Irene (Carey Mulligan) isn't going to get her home from the grocery store, so he offers to give her and her young son Benicio (Kaden Leos) a ride. Irene seems lonely, too-her husband is in prison and she works as a waitress and single mom-and Driver immediately feels a connection to her. And not only is he a nice, good-looking guy, but he takes a fancy to Benicio, which is, of course, the way to any mother's heart.

But when her husband Standard (Oscar Isaac) comes home, vowing to use his second chance for good, Driver immediately senses a disturbance. Standard may not be the typical nasty ex-con husband-there's no evidence that he mistreats Irene or Benicio-but he's also knowingly-endangering them by accruing debts he knows he can't pay. After Driver finds Standard bloodied by some of the mobsters' thugs, with Benicio huddled nearby, horrorstruck, Driver signs up to help Standard and an accomplice rob a pawn shop with the intent to score enough money to get Standard "out". When the theft attempt goes awry, Driver realizes he can't trust anyone, not his potential car-racing sponsors, not his boss, no one except Irene, who has no idea what's going on and what could happen to her and Benicio unless the right people get paid, or get taken care of.

Watching Drive, you keep waiting for something to happen. The score I mentioned is freakishly ominous and contributes to a nearly constant sense of foreboding. It occasionally dials up the volume to screechy, psychedelic levels with a variety of rock and pop songs, but usually just pulses, drums, hums in the background. It was highly-effective, keeping my stomach in a knot, and it's also necessary, as the movie can be exceptionally quiet otherwise. An early scene in which Driver eludes the police-with a pair of guys who just committed robbery in his back seat-is exceptionally well-done; without dialogue, you're able to hear the commentators of the basketball commentators on the radio, the screech of the speeding car's tires, the hiss of other traffic, the chatter on a handheld police scanner Driver has, and the chopping of a police helicopter's blades overhead. Until about the mid-way point of the film, in which Driver is proposing his offer to help Standard and his accomplices rob the pawn shop, Gosling barely has one page's worth of dialogue. Same with Mulligan--Driver and Irene's connection is shown as almost entirely nonverbal-with lots of warm smiles and knowing glances. But that silence gets to be frustrating--like I said, you're given just enough to buy Driver and Irene's connection, but you keep waiting for something to happen. Irene must be desperate for company, because why else would she keep this quiet, rather awkward man around so much?

Not that the acting is bad. Gosling brings his usual intensity, with his eyes blazing in his smoothly-intelligent face, but this feels like a walk in the park for him; he could do so much more. Mulligan, likewise, is impressive in a small part--it's quite a task making an audience care so much about a character who's given so little to work with. Albert Brooks brings an air of menace to his privileged thug, Ron Perlman makes a much more effective impression than he's been able to in a lot of his recent sci-fi sidekick outings (Conan the Barbarian, Season of the Witch), and Oscar Isaac makes you feel both sympathy and disquiet as a supposedly-reformed family man.

I was worried about watching Drive, mainly because of the promise of "Strong Brutal Bloody Violence" under the rating logo on the back. It is bloody, but there's nothing jaw-droppingly horrible happening, or maybe that's just someone who's seen a lot of movies talking. But what is jaw-dropping is how withdrawn Gosling's Driver is. It gets to be a little bit frustrating-you want to care about him, and you want Irene to care about him, but, surely, the movie has to give you SOMETHING. It doesn't just feel like the character-it feels like the writer and director deliberately withholding dialogue. It's not a bad effort, just disappointing. And for what it's worth, you do feel enough for Driver and Irene that the increasing body count late in the film doesn't crush all your hopes for the redemption of humanity, but the mood does plummet as you see where this gritty film is headed--to an unhappy ending.

So, do I recommend it?
Not particularly. Even uber-Gosling fans may wanna skip this one, as he doesn't do much other than stare, glare, and occasionally brutally murder someone. There are some shockingly-bloody moments, and some heartless murders, and enough bad language, that the squeamish will want to avoid it. Also, the silent, very "indie" feel won't endear this film to a lot of people who are just looking for some entertainment. Go ahead and take a pass.

Bottom line (I promise):
Cool idea, good actors...coulda been better--Drive is a dark, underwhelming movie.

Drive (2011)
Directed by Nicholas Winding Refn
Based on the book by James Sallis
Written by Hossein Amini
Rated R for strong bloody violence, language, and brief nudity
Length: 100 minutes