Drive (2011, dir. Nicolas Winding Refn)

The surprise hit of Cannes, it won Refn the award for Best Director. By most accounts, it's a lean, mean genre piece that delivers the goods. Stephanie Zacharek seems to sum up a lot of what folks have been saying about it:

If you’re thinking Driver is the quintessential laid-back selfless hero, cool as cool can be in the Steve McQueen mode, the kind of guy you’ve seen hundreds of times in good movies and in bad ones — you’re right. In fact, if you’ve watched any movies made in the past 40 years, you’ll see and hear lots of familiar elements in Drive: The slightly grainy, low-lit look of ’70s cheapies (the DP is Newton Thomas Sigel); the new-wave neon-pink script used in the credit sequences; the at-first jarring but later sublimely perfect ’80s-style synth score. I’ve already talked to some critics who have dismissed the film, saying they’ve seen it all before. But that’s precisely the point. Refn doesn’t pretend to have invented any of this stuff; his movie is 90 percent unapologetic homage, and he knows how to recombine familiar elements in a way that feels fresh and exciting.

[ . . . ]

Drive could have been the best drive-in feature of 1975, which explains why some of the critics I’ve talked to don’t see it as particularly original. But last night I also ran into a solid crew of youngish colleagues who were as over the moon about it as I was. No one is claiming Refn has invented a new language; it’s just that he uses the vocabulary so well — he’s got the right tools and the right touch. This is a mechanic who can make an engine sing.

This and MYSTERIES OF LISBON are really my must-see films of the year.

I liked BRONSON, but mainly due to Hardy's performance. Refn's stunt movie gimmicks felt more of a hindrance than a plus.

I've got to say, this looks promising. Though a lot of the reviews are pointing out that it's one big homage. That doesn't sit well with me. Nor does its praise at Cannes, the folks that put Tarantino on the stage and have been consistently getting it wrong for the past 20 years.

I liked BRONSON well enough. Not a great movie--it's really the kind of movie a film student might dream about making--but it has an exuberance about its style that makes it worth a look. If nothing else, Refn is a filmmaker who is excited to play with the toolbox cinema offers. I don't think he's a great director, but he's at least interesting. As he steps more into the Hollywood world--he's doing the LOGAN'S RUN remake next--I'll be interested to see how he develops. I'm hoping he becomes the next John Boorman: a studio director who, for good or bad, always delivers something a little strange and unusual.

DRIVE seems to be the first step on that path. It looks like a very different animal from anything Refn has done before, dropping all the "art film" pretensions and just delivering a straight, slick genre picture.

I talked with the director of photography about it, and he seemed pretty excited. They made it on the cheap, something like 13 mil below the line, but it was shot on the Alexa, the newest bestest digital ... you know. Christina looks awful in the trailer though.

The film was originally to be made on a $60 million budget, with Hugh Jackman as the star. Refn had other plans for DRIVE, though, and so it became a low-budget affair.

It's got a style and attitude that makes me excited about it.

My interview with the cinematographer went up on the mag's website today.
http://www.hdvideopro.com/display/features/a-boy-and-his-car.html

I might be seeing this tomorrow, or hopefully soon. Looks like a fun ride! :)

I'm seeing it tonight.

The trailer doesn't excite me that much. Maybe I'll see it on Blu.

Dig the casting of Brooks.

Harmsway wrote:

Great trailer (although it arguably gives away a little too much). Can't wait for this flick.

Albert Brooks mentioned DRIVE in a recent tweet...

Just came back from a morning showing of DRIVE. To make it like 3D I stabbed 6 people in the theater.

I'm seeing it tomorrow. It looks freakin' sweet.

Mr. Brown wrote:

Albert Brooks mentioned DRIVE in a recent tweet...

Just came back from a morning showing of DRIVE. To make it like 3D I stabbed 6 people in the theater.

Love Brooks.

Geez, I was hearing about this movie at work. First time I've ever heard of a Cannes-winning film at any place of work.

Except when I worked at an arty movie theatre ten years ago.

Really dug this film, as my review in the Last Movie You Watched thread suggests.

I can't believe more people around here haven't gone to see this. Definitely the best film playing in theatres right now -- a kind of perfect mix of 80s New Wave nostalgia, 70s style car chases and character arcs, artsy cinematography and editing, and pulpy storyline. It's just... Good.

Sometimes its like the people around here are too cynical and don't want to see anything new if they smell even a hint of something they may not like about it.

Fairbairn-Sykes wrote:

I can't believe more people around here haven't gone to see this. Definitely the best film playing in theatres right now -- a kind of perfect mix of 80s New Wave nostalgia, 70s style car chases and character arcs, artsy cinematography and editing, and pulpy storyline.

Ambler's kind of movie.

Not too sure about this.

Fairbairn-Sykes wrote:

Sometimes its like the people around here are too cynical and don't want to see anything new if they smell even a hint of something they may not like about it.

I don't agree, at least not in terms of me. I plan to see this sometime next week.

Nah, some people are just sick of seeing pure shit. They have the right to be skeptical and cynical. Film snobbery goes both ways.


This has Albert Brooks, though, so it's worth a shot, regardless.

Sharky wrote:

Not too sure about this.

Honestly, Sharky, I don't think it's your kinda flick.

This review sums DRIVE up pretty perfectly.

Cheers for that.

Quote :

"the same social, human, and political emptiness of that imagistically stunning digital film."

Pass the bucket.

Sharky wrote:

Cheers for that.

Quote :

"the same social, human, and political emptiness of that imagistically stunning digital film."

Pass the bucket.

If that's true, pass it over here when you're done with it. I was hoping DRIVE was a lot closer to HEAT than COLLATERAL.

I like DRIVE much, much better than COLLATERAL (COLLATERAL compromises itself as it develops; DRIVE doesn't), but there is definitely some common ground in their portraits of Los Angeles at night.

Well, as I said in my comments, all DRIVE has to offer, really, is style, an attitude, a pose. There's no depth or substance to the story, which is a simple set of bullet points. The characters are barely sketches, more impressions than people. But that kind of stripped-down-to-the-point-of-abstraction storytelling nevertheless works here, since it's honestly all about its swagger, and it's a pretty killer swagger, too.

Anyone else seen this yet?

Does sound like my sort of thing except for the horribly boyish Carey Mulligan. 'Her' career is a mystery to me.

Is Drive out in the UK yet?