From its opening sequence displaying Ryan Gosling as The Driver, the only identity that is attached to his character throughout the duration of the film, to its chilling ending, the audience of Drive is left in a state of awe at the masterpiece that Nicolas Winding Refn has once again brought forward. Cleverly making use of stylish brutality to display the surrounding harsh realities of the world encompassing the driver and drawing the viewer into what they believe to be a simple heist movie, Refn once again proves himself to be a stand apart director redefining the true picture of arthouse film.
Though the viewer is never fully divulged true character depth, what they are left with on its surface is enough that by the film’s end they are hanging on to see how characters will turn out. Gosling has been known as an actor who can take any challenge and create a character of enormous depth and quality and in Drive, despite shallow character development, once again opens the eyes of the viewer to the world in which the driver lives, moving flawlessly from a typical stuntman to the reinvented driver by the film’s end.
Drive benefits most from its beautiful cinematography and well placed soundtrack, which when added to the powerful characters portrayed by Ryan Gosling, Carey Mulligan and Albert Brooks, creates an environment in which it is hard to escape. In looking at the many aspects of Drive, one can be sure to come away with a sense of satisfaction for money spent as Drive will leave its viewer hungry for more throughout its duration. Once again, Refn proves that he has found his mark as seen with previous works such as Valhalla Rising and the Pusher trilogy. Drive can ultimately be seen as one of this year’s best films and in its 98 minute runtime will have you leaning forward looking for more.
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