Drive
Directed by Nicolas Winding Refn
Starring Ryan Gosling
8.9/10

Drive is a film ripe with style and influence, which is why it will be liked for years to come by film fans, but possibly fade in the background by next year in the eyes of casual movie-goers. It's a tough feature to pin-down, as it dashes back and forth from moody, silent tension to scenes of bone-chilling violence. A film that defies genres and is as well done as this doesn't come along too often, so the celebration of Drive by critics and fans a like is certainly warranted.

But just how good is Drive? Is it going to be a huge contender for award season? Will Ryan Gosling or possibly Albert Brooks be nominated for their equally great performances? It's hard to say, with Gosling in a string of films this year, showing what just could be his strongest year of acting. Drive could be written off for awards this year, as it does come off as an art film with very little dialogue and the absurd violence of revenge films such as the much celebrated (and soon to be remade) classic Oldboy.

Much is expected from Danish director of the wonderful "Pusher" series, Nicolas Winding Refn. This is his first American production, and he shows fantastic knack for action, tension and style. He crafts a beautiful, slick film from the opening scene to the final credits - and what an opening scene it is.

We are introduced to Gosling's unnamed character of the Driver as he explains his getaway services to whom they are provided, which brings us into a tension building scene of the Driver waiting in his car while listening to a Celtics game on the radio before a man with a briefcase and balaclava hops in the backseat and the Driver starts off. He takes the suspects through the city streets as he is followed by a police helicopter, listening to the events described on a handheld transmitter as the Celtics game doubles in the background. He is waiting it out, but what for we don't know until the game ends and he speeds into a full parking garage of Celtics fans, parks his car, puts on a cap and removes his jacket before he walks out past the police cars unnoticed.

Then the credits hit. This movie is going to be bad-ass, is the only thing you can think. The credit sequence is just as sleek and hip, giving a feeling of Grand Theft Auto: Vice City combined with Travis Bickle's eerie drive around of the Scorsese classic Taxi Driver, which the film obviously has influence from. Gosling immediately shows a sense of solitude with his characterization of the Driver just in these opening scenes. With very little dialogue and no narration, he does so with subtle expression.

I won't bother to spoil much of the film by diving into the rest of the plot for those who haven't seen it, because the shocking turns make the film more than what it is if they are unfolding before your eyes. It is a wonderfully constructed plot, that at times can seem unrealistic, but the beauty and heart of the film causes not much else to matter.

The ensemble cast of Gosling, Bryan Cranston, Albert Brooks, Ron Pearlman, Carey Mulligan, Oscar Issac, and Christina Hendricks all perform fantastically. I would be disappointed not to see a nod from the Academy for at least Gosling and Brooks this year, the latter who takes the role of a brutal murderer and commits 100 percent to it without a blink after a career of much fantastic comedy.

In the end, Drive is a film to be seen by true fans of film, and there are moments that action fans with enjoy as well. It does deserve the praise it's received in my eyes, and will be sure to be one of the best films of the year. It's far from a perfect film by any means, but still works on almost every level. See this movie, and there's a good chance you'll watch it at least one more time, as I'm doing while I write this.

Trailer: