Refn Teaming with Gosling for Drive

[Matt Mortem]

I just got back from this with the girlfriend, we both weren't enjoying it as the film went on. It wasn't what we expected.

But once we left we couldn't pick anything out that struck us as being terrible. We both think it was an amazing film and so clever.

I felt the EXACT same way.

 

[Mrs. Sawyer]

Dare I say, is this going to be an early Candidate for Hype movie of the year (can't wait to run it again, btw)?

 

[Van Petrol]

Although the pacing does seem rather slow, it is still a fantastic movie nonetheless. The soundtrack is also so addictive.

Btw, does anybody happen to know which track played at the beginning of the film during the first driving sequence? I can't seem to find it on the soundtrack.

 

[Master Chief]

 

[Van Petrol]

^ Yeah, just found it. Thanks all the same.

 

[Master Chief]

No problem. Hahah this has to be one of the most rad soundtracks to ever be put together.

 

[Van Petrol]

It really is fantastic. The whole film gave me a GTA:Vice City sort of vibe for some reason.

 

[Van Petrol]

Another thing I really liked about this was the different type of perspective that it gave in regards to the car scenes. Where most films seem to focus on the exterior shots to their respective car scenes/chases. The ones here seemed to focus more on being inside the car, making you almost feel as though you were in the car with the other characters throughout.

 

[Fanticon]

that is an excellent observation, the part with the helicopter spot light and the feeling of being in that car with them...helicopter's on patrol from over head...it was intense. Surround sound in my theater was incredible for that part when the chopper flies over.

 

[Lasirius]

Just saw it this morning and I can't get out out of my head. Absolutely loved it!

9/10

 

[Van Petrol]

that is an excellent observation, the part with the helicopter spot light and the feeling of being in that car with them...helicopter's on patrol from over head...it was intense. Surround sound in my theater was incredible for that part when the chopper flies over.

I agree. I was hooked from then on.

 

[TheBat812]

This movie is like the best student film of the year. I loved the first sequence, and parts of the movie, but overall it felt very amateurish. The soundtrack actually detracted from the movie. There were a few decisions that seemed to come out of nowhere

Spoiler

Why did he wear the mask at the end to kill that one dude?

There was some very 80s editing that brought me out of the experience. The writing was also weak. The ending was weak and had very little meaning to the story itself. Some very cool and interesting stuff to be found in this movie, but this really feels like an amazing student film from a director who's showing promise and not an engrossing piece of cinema. It feels like a movie Billy Walsh from Entourage would have made.

8/10 from me.

Oh ya, Ryan gosling is phenomenal, and he makes this movie seem much better than it is.

 

[Fanticon]

For all your critiques that's still a pretty high rating you gave it

as far as your question, I think it was for the simple fact to invoke fear and intimidation. Also not forgetting that the Driver turned out to be

Spoiler

a bit of a sociopath hiding behind many masks

 

[BestGirl]

There were a few decisions that seemed to come out of nowhere

Spoiler

Why did he wear the mask at the end to kill that one dude?

Spoiler

On imdb, someone speculated that he needed to psychologically become a different person entirely in order to commit murder. The mask perhaps helped with that. Up to that point he had only killed in self-defense, but when he went after Nino he would be the one initiating violence.

 

[Master Chief]

Spoiler

Why did he wear the mask at the end to kill that one dude?

Spoiler

I was wondering about that too, but then I remembered how Gosling kept saying this was a guy who watched too many movies, and was now mistaking his life for a movie, and it made sense to me that he would wear something off a movie set lol. You add onto that the idea of this being a superhero origin and there's his costume.

 

[Doctor Jones]

Listening to "Under Your Spell" right now. Great song.

 

[RaZaTrOn]

One thing i loved whether intentional or not was the use of the phrase (and I know this isn't exactly word for word) 'for five minutes i'm yours, anything before or after your on your own'.

I felt as though the whole film was that. Where for a specified time we'd get something that we recognise as typical cinema and then after that we are left with these parts where we are on our own and we have to figure out what message is trying to be sent out and i think that this will lead to lots of people experiencing the film differently.

 

[Jackasscoley15]

Red Letter Media has a nice review, along with a review of Contagion:

[YT]mkspqTu0_2M[/YT]

 

[DACrowe]

Since when has slow pace been a bad thing? This is a crime movie that literally goes to a beat of a different drum. I love it's super-slick soundtrack that is hypnotic and the inversion of a main character who almost never says anything and has no backstory (very Clint Eastwood) while all the supporting characters bring entire decades of backstory that is only hinted at, but felt.

As I've said, this is the John Coltrane of crime dramas. Though I'll admit the soundtrack and Albert Brooks are what stick out the most.

 

[DACrowe]

Spoiler

On imdb, someone speculated that he needed to psychologically become a different person entirely in order to commit murder. The mask perhaps helped with that. Up to that point he had only killed in self-defense, but when he went after Nino he would be the one initiating violence.

I disagree with that one because he shows no hesitation in killing or doing extreme violence. He broke that guy's arm in the strip club and would have beaten him to death if he didn't give up some names without compassion. He didn't even break a sweat when he killed those two guys in the elevator. He also kills Albert Brooks at the end without a sense of weight, just more of getting the job done. He and Brooks share the similarity of seeming like nice guys on the outside but are hiding truly heinous potential and a disregard for their own humanity beneath the surface.

I don't know how some thought the ending made no sense. He's killed two made guys now and the mob is going to be after him the rest of his life. He left Carrie Mulligan and her son alone, because nobody else knows about them and he'd be a danger to them if he went back. Another theory I have is that he is such an existential hero--like Albert Camus meets Sergi Leone's Clint Eastwood--that he has finally found a purpose and can be happy. He's been so empty the whole movie and likely his whole life. He has no name, he's just the "Driver" who drives. He doesn't really care why he drives and he has no reason--stunts for movies or getaway crimes for thugs--he just does it so he can drive. Now that he is driving away into hiding to protect Mulligan and her son, he has a purpose to drive and can be happy.

 

[mongoose-mania]

Saw this movie a few weeks ago and thought it was awesome. Totally not what I was expecting, which turned out to be a pleasant surprise. And I really need to find that soundtrack.

 

[BestGirl]

I disagree with that one because he shows no hesitation in killing or doing extreme violence. He broke that guy's arm in the strip club

Breaking someone's arm isn't the same thing as killing them.

and would have beaten him to death if he didn't give up some names without compassion.

Probably, but the Driver didn't go after Cook with the intention of killing him, he just wanted info. Once he got that he was wiling to let him go. Contrast that with Nino: Nino wasn't going to leave that encounter alive and the Driver knew it.

He didn't even break a sweat when he killed those two guys in the elevator. He also kills Albert Brooks at the end without a sense of weight, just more of getting the job done.

Both killings were self-defense. The men he killed were planning to kill him, and the Albert Brooks character actually had to stab him before he would stab him back. When the Driver went after Nino, however, that was strictly offensive on his part.

 

[DACrowe]

Breaking someone's arm isn't the same thing as killing them.



Probably, but the Driver didn't go after Cook with the intention of killing him, he just wanted info. Once he got that he was wiling to let him go. Contrast that with Nino: Nino wasn't going to leave that encounter alive and the Driver knew it.

He broke the guy's arm to get a result. Once he had the desired result, he left the guy alone. But if Cook had refused to cooperate do you really think the Driver would have hesitated hammering a nail into his brain? I don't. He never shows hesitation, doubt or introspection about what he does. He is the perfect existential hero who does what he does because that is all he is. He has the capacity for extraordinary violence and uses it when he has to very coldly. That is why meeting Carrie Mulligan and her son were so extraordinary for him. He had an empty life and they filled it for him. They gave him purpose.

Both killings were self-defense. The men he killed were planning to kill him, and the Albert Brooks character actually had to stab him before he would stab him back. When the Driver went after Nino, however, that was strictly offensive on his part.

He tried to make a diplomatic gesture and men were sent to kill him as a result (they did kill Bryan Cranston). He was methodical in his murder of Nino. He wore the mask because it was, as you say, good offense to scare and unsettle Nino which would make the murder so much easier. But there was no sense of cathartic revenge. Like his driving, he quietly and methodically stalked Nino and then drowned him.

The reverse shots between him and Albert Brooks at the end is to show, at least when it comes to violence, they are not so different. They put on this face, but both are hiding an extraordinary ability to do cruel things and both came with knives to their meeting which their faces would never reveal.

There is no angst about violence for the Driver. Like his driving, it's just what he does and who he is in this movie.

 

[RKO]

Amazing film. Direction, beautiful cinematography, pace, deep raw acting. Everything is so perfect about it. You don't get to see this types of films anymore, and has become one of my favorites.

Definite movie of the year so far.


To add to the current discussion; I think the reasons he wears the mask at the end is to check out Nino's restaurant without being recognized and then to instill fear in him as he kills him.

 

[EML420]

I thought he wore the mask because he had to get into character in a sense because he wore the mask when he peformed a deadly stunt on the movie set and he was possibly going to die trying to kill Nino.