Better hold onto your seats as Drive, a new thriller from Alliance Films, revs up. Very busy Canadian actor Ryan Gosling (The Notebook) is front and centre as the film’s chief character, simply known as Driver. Heck, that’s all you need to know about this guy who’s pretty good behind the wheel. Job-wise, this man drives cars in the movies for a living. You could say he’s a glorified stuntman. Behind the scenes, however, he also moonlights as a driver for the odd thug or two.
Girl Next Door Carey Mulligan Effective as a New Friend for a Stuntman on Edge
Life in the fast lane can be pretty unpredictable. Being noble can also have its downfall. Ever chivalrous, when Driver accidentally meets a new girl things slowly get a bit out of control. Cast in the part of Irene is Carey Mulligan (Never Let Me Go), a new friend to this loner of a guy who also comes with her own set of baggage. One things leads to another and before you know it Driver gets caught not only in a love trap but further problems related to the California underworld.
Intense is the best way to describe Ryan Gosling’s performance here. Consider this driver to be a bit like Robert De Niro’s patented psycho Travis in Taxi Driver but no less compelling. Don’t let the mild-mannered nature of this man fool you. Deep down inside there’s a rage just ready to explode. And it’s a girl that provides the spark.
Albert Brooks Ramps Up the Emotion as a Jewish Mobster on the Take
More heat comes by way of the murky characters Driver meets up with. Going against criminals is nothing new for this man – only he gets a bit more than he bargained for when he encounters Bernie Rose and Nino. Veteran actors Albert Brooks (Taxi Driver) and Ron Perlman (Hellboy) provide the gravitas as two mobsters who make Driver’s life a bit difficult. Once he gets wound up, however, the tables turn quickly in this outstanding 100 minute suspense drama that never lets up.
Better fasten your seatbelts, buckle up and enjoy the ride as director Nicolas Winding Refn (Valhalla Rising) unleashes a gutsy tale of power struggles, love and emotions gone wild that will hardly leave you time to catch your breath. Smart stylish violence that’s graphic and brutal truly captures the essence of some very bad people out to rule the day but who wind up taking on a very formidable foe.
Robert Waldman - Hi. I'm a film critic from Vancouver, British Columbia Canada, considered to be the number one city in the world and third largest film ...
