Drive (2011)

Combining elements of film noir with generous helpings of both "Bullitt" and "Taxi Driver," I'll bet "Drive" polarized a lot of audiences in 2011. At times, the film even seems at odds with itself, as its slick and silent opening half gives way to a shock of violence that I'll admit I was not prepared for.

But I liked "Drive." A lot. Why? Because it's smarter than most action films out there. And because Ryan Gosling is in it. And because director Nicolas Winding Refn knows how to do style but without completely disposing of substance.

In "Drive," Gosling plays a car driver. He doesn't even have a name, which turns out to be a key existential element to the story. The driver is good at what he does. So good that he makes two careers out of it. By day, he is a stuntman driver for films. At night, on the neon-lit streets of L.A., he's a driver-for-hire behind the wheel of robbers' getaway cars.

Though excellent at both, a heist eventually goes wrong as is inevitably the case in all of these kinds of movies. And when this one does, the Driver learns that a contract has been put on him.

The film is laser-focused in plot but throws in a few interesting side stories. One involves Carey Mulligan as a young woman who's husband is getting out of prison and involved in the criminal underworld of the film's plot. The Driver clearly has feelings for her, and sympathy for her young son.

A more delicious subplot involves Albert Brooks, cast wildly and brilliantly agaist type as a low-level Hollywood film producer capable of great violence. Brooks is riveting in "Drive." His work takes your breath away because the film has him heading into territory so unusual for a typical Brooks character.

There's not much more about the plot that I want to share here, because it's best to experience the film without knowing much more. But although the film has numerous strengths, it truly works because of Gosling.

Gosling's performance is nearly silent for the bulk of the film. A splicing together of boyish charm and thrill-seeking know-how and determination, Gosling's performance here is more electrifying than most you'll see all year, which is even more impressive considering that at it's core, "Drive" is largely a style piece. But if Gosling was fast becoming one of the best actors in Hollywood (and, dare I say, criminally disregarded for Oscar consideration for last year's "Blue Valentine"), this is proof that he's made it. I cannot for the life of me figure out why he is so compelling when, half the time, he doesn't seem to be exerting much effort. That must be the secret, and the reason. This is good stuff.

Refn's direction brings a neon-80s style to the film, from the Driver's jacket to the Los Angeles nightscapes to the 80s synth cheese soundtrack. And because Gosling is so boyishly charming and almost passive in the opening third of the film, Refn is able to shock the viewer into a second half that is difficult to prepare for, and possibly difficult to watch.

Does "Drive" get too violent? Yeah, probably. It does seem to be out of character with all that comes before it, because once the film goes down that path, it stays on it. But maybe people who look at the movie as two contrasting sections and tones that didn't fit together are missing the point. Maybe the point is that this slick, quiet, mostly docile young man is dragged into a world and a situation where only such low-level thinking and behavior will allow him to survive. It is in this way that I sensed some thematic kinship with Scorsese's "Taxi Driver," though Travis Bickle (another driver, by the way), resorts to violence for reasons he believes are for the betterment of society, whereas the Driver in "Drive" becomes violent as a means of self-defense and escape.

Whatever the case, "Drive" is a very interesting action film, shockingly violent and very well acted. Sitting in the middle of a pile of car-related action films from recent years with words like "Furious" in the title and bald, muscular men in their casts, "Drive" turns out to be a much better ride.

3.5 out of 4