Drive

[JayBee74]

Fantastic reviews, including a rare 4 out of 4 from Roger Ebert, and one top critic putting it in the same class as Taxi Driver.

Currently a 93% on RottenTomatoes.

[LionsFanNJ]

Re: Drive

I want to see this as Ryan Gosling is the one actor i pretty much will watch anything he's in....plus, Christina Hendricks is in it.

[Blzer]

Re: Drive

Wow, this I did not expect.

I will be seeing it ASAP.

[areobee401]

Re: Drive

I'm going to see this Sunday night after the Chargers @ Patriots. Happy to see the rave reviews.

[Sandman42]

Re: Drive

What an awesome movie.

Didn't really see many previews of it, but from the one's I did I was expecting a different type of movie. Glad they took it in the direction they did though, instead of making it an action filled heist movie. Definitely a much more original take on a crime movie.

Loved the music in the film and the interactions between the characters, especially Gosling and Carey Mulligan are great.

[CMH]

Re: Drive

Carey Mulligan is in this too? Wow. I like this cast. Should be watching this Saturday.

[CMH]

Re: Drive

This movie is being praised by an overwhelming number of the Public? I haven't seen this bad a movie in a couple years.

The entire plot and action of the characters is insulting to the viewing audience.

Drive has no idea what kind of story it really is. It goes from love story (not so shabby) to thriller (awesome! I was really getting into it at this point) to...oh, man, I can't spoil it.

Spoiler

...a mob film? Really? A mob film? Just out of thin air.

What this movie ends up becoming is a joke. I can't believe I sat down for over an hour only to see this film switch gears quicker than Ryan Gosling going 90 in reverse and dropping not a mile as he suddenly speeds forward.

The entire first hour of this film is a red herring of nothing. You sit and watch these characters act out actions in places where you'd think someone in today's age would not only spot the violence but maybe call the police that have been involved since the first minute of the film. Yet, the police disappear faster than the foundation holding this story together.

It's a giant sandbox for a select amount of characters who go unnoticed by the entire Los Angeles area.

The first act is incredibly long and monotone. While I give credit to the direction as I think the use of silence to express words was incredible (the mood of the film is its best quality. Tranquility in a world of action forms for a pleasing experience), it took much too long for the film to get to its point.

The second act takes over 30 minutes to show up and by the time you start to see what dilemmas and consequences are being presented the story finds itself needing to put Gosling's unnamed character into a third act.

You've built no connection to the antagonist who are just as suddenly thrown into the plot with a half-passed reason, and the protagonist is pushed along rather than forcing the action to take place.

The acting is great. The film is shot beautifully. The use of silence and clashing it with a loud 80s-style soundtrack is brilliant. The plot shatters it to pieces.

[Aces15]

Re: Drive

This movie is being praised by an overwhelming number of the Public? I haven't seen this bad a movie in a couple years.

The entire plot and action of the characters is insulting to the viewing audience.

Drive has no idea what kind of story it really is. It goes from love story (not so shabby) to thriller (awesome! I was really getting into it at this point) to...oh, man, I can't spoil it.

Spoiler

...a mob film? Really? A mob film? Just out of thin air.

What this movie ends up becoming is a joke. I can't believe I sat down for over an hour only to see this film switch gears quicker than Ryan Gosling going 90 in reverse and dropping not a mile as he suddenly speeds forward.

The entire first hour of this film is a red herring of nothing. You sit and watch these characters act out actions in places where you'd think someone in today's age would not only spot the violence but maybe call the police that have been involved since the first minute of the film. Yet, the police disappear faster than the foundation holding this story together.

It's a giant sandbox for a select amount of characters who go unnoticed by the entire Los Angeles area.

The first act is incredibly long and monotone. While I give credit to the direction as I think the use of silence to express words was incredible (the mood of the film is its best quality. Tranquility in a world of action forms for a pleasing experience), it took much too long for the film to get to its point.

The second act takes over 30 minutes to show up and by the time you start to see what dilemmas and consequences are being presented the story finds itself needing to put Gosling's unnamed character into a third act.

You've built no connection to the antagonist who are just as suddenly thrown into the plot with a half-passed reason, and the protagonist is pushed along rather than forcing the action to take place.

The acting is great. The film is shot beautifully. The use of silence and clashing it with a loud 80s-style soundtrack is brilliant. The plot shatters it to pieces.

I agree that the plot and writing were definitely not the movie's strong points, I don't think it was as bad as you made it seem. I'll just put the rest of my response in spoilers just in case:

Spoiler

You say that the film turns into a mob movie... but revealing the fact that the antagonists are dealing with the mob does nothing to turn the movie into a "mob film."

To me, the film's one goal was to flesh out Ryan Gosling's character, and it did an excellent job at that. For that reason, I didn't think it was necessary to flesh out Nino and Bernie. Their only motivation was to cover their own asses, I don't see many places you could go with that.

And I don't really see any place where it was blatantly obvious that they should have been noticed by the police. It's not like they were having shootouts in the streets with no one around. The closest you get to that is the pawn shop scene, and even that is over in about 30 seconds.

[CMH]

Re: Drive

Spoiler

And I don't really see any place where it was blatantly obvious that they should have been noticed by the police. It's not like they were having shootouts in the streets with no one around. The closest you get to that is the pawn shop scene, and even that is over in about 30 seconds.

Spoiler

The parking lot when Bernie is killed. There are cars all over the place and people walking around. You don't simply drive away from something like that.

The car chase scene after the robbery gone wrong. Here's the thing, early in the film it was established that the police were damn good at spotting illegal activity and yet not one is around when two cars are speeding and hitting each other in the middle of the day? You can't ask me to accept something and then forget it later in the film.

Two men are shot to death in a hotel room not too far from where a robbery occurred and the "thief" was shot to death by shotgun. Yet, Ryan Gosling is walking around with a bloody jacket the very next day. You mean, no one stopped to ask why this man has a bloody jacket a day after three men and a woman were brutally killed? The entire theater started to laugh when they saw this guy walking around with blood like it's a normal thing.

I'll add this: I have no problems with anyone that loved this film. I see the good qualities in it. I'm mostly just surprised that films with just as many holes in them get horrible reviews and yet all anyone is giving this film credit for is the acting and style. What about the plot and writing?

There are two things that kill movies for me: Implausible Resolutions and Inexplicable Chance Encounters. Drive didn't have too much of the latter, but it had too much of the former for my taste. If you're able to drown those things out then you'll love this film. In some ways I envy people that can overlook the things that make me immediately shut down a film. I'm not saying it makes me smarter or anything. It's just the two things that jump out at me when I watch a film.

[Aces15]

Re: Drive

Spoiler

The parking lot when Bernie is killed. There are cars all over the place and people walking around. You don't simply drive away from something like that.

The car chase scene after the robbery gone wrong. Here's the thing, early in the film it was established that the police were damn good at spotting illegal activity and yet not one is around when two cars are speeding and hitting each other in the middle of the day? You can't ask me to accept something and then forget it later in the film.

Two men are shot to death in a hotel room not too far from where a robbery occurred and the "thief" was shot to death by shotgun. Yet, Ryan Gosling is walking around with a bloody jacket the very next day. You mean, no one stopped to ask why this man has a bloody jacket a day after three men and a woman were brutally killed? The entire theater started to laugh when they saw this guy walking around with blood like it's a normal thing.

I'll add this: I have no problems with anyone that loved this film. I see the good qualities in it. I'm mostly just surprised that films with just as many holes in them get horrible reviews and yet all anyone is giving this film credit for is the acting and style. What about the plot and writing?

There are two things that kill movies for me: Implausible Resolutions and Inexplicable Chance Encounters. Drive didn't have too much of the latter, but it had too much of the former for my taste. If you're able to drown those things out then you'll love this film. In some ways I envy people that can overlook the things that make me immediately shut down a film. I'm not saying it makes me smarter or anything. It's just the two things that jump out at me when I watch a film.

Spoiler

The bloody jacket might have been a little "out there" when it comes to being overlooked as incriminating, but I'm pretty sure it served a larger purpose in characterizing his character.

The whole movie I couldn't help but get this vibe that there was something not right about him, and that just helped to further the point. The handshake scene where it took him forever to end up shaking Bernie's hand, the awkward silences, the fact that it was so easy for him to connect with the kid, the uncanny attention to detail; it all suggests to me that he had some kind of disorder that the movie was hinting at the whole time.

As for the ending scene, it wouldn't surprise me if the restaurant was owned by the mob/Bernie/some other criminal connection, making it easier to believe the parking lot would be kind of empty (after all, if I remember correctly, the restaurant was empty too).

I'm not denying that the movie had its faults, but I don't think it's right to say that they outright broke the plot. And besides, it's pretty rare to find an action film that doesn't ask the viewer to suspend their disbelief at least once throughout the movie.

[CMH]

Re: Drive

This stuff just drove me crazy!

Well, there are good qualities. A lot of good ones. I see people calling it an artsy action film. I can see that.

[Sandman42]

Re: Drive

Spoiler

I guess I never really had a problem with all the implausible stuff that happened because Gosling's character was just weird in the way he acted. Aces mentioned all the weird quirks he had and by the end of the movie he pretty much turns into a superhero. I don't think the movie was shooting to be that realistic so I never had a problem that he was able to do most of these things unnoticed.

[Fresh Tendrils]

Re: Drive

I'll spoiler what I really think about this, but short story is I loved this film.

Spoiler

It is beyond uncanny how many movies this film got its marks from: the 80s aesthetic to the titles and soundtrack, the Barry Newman filtered through Steve McQueen action star, the John Hughes relationship building, the Goodfellas action violence, the Mike Myers mask effect. Everything about this film just adds up to it being off-the-mark and quirky. It truly has its own personality and in that way everything makes sense. It is amazing how much tension was in this movie and how fleshed out his character was considering he spent most of his time staring people the **** down.

Plot is very matter of fact and is very much a 70s driver/car movie plot, lets be honest. If nothing else, this movie is an 80s homage to the driver/car chase genre in which the guy behind the wheel is freakin Superman. I personally didn't have a problem with the plot or the progression because I felt the need to figure out Gosling's character because he was so quirky and off the mark in a awkward, dark humour kind of way. There's a sense that something is off, but the seriousness isn't apparent until the diner scene. Even the words set up the stare and silence to take his character to a psychotic side that is strangly calming and unnerving in one turn.

I feel like this is one of the better movies of the past year or so. It is an action film that really feels like nothing else, but yet manages to stage marks which are almost direct homages to about 10 different genres. The style and personality of this film is undeniable because it is oozing with it and it completely and totally wrapped me up.

[WDOgF0reL1fe]

Re: Drive

i loved every second of it.
I will def see it a second time with friends who havent seen it yet.

I LOVE the way the movie was shot, the limited amount of dialogue, etc.

So pumped this movie is getting good reviews and hopefully makes some money

[JayBee74]

Re: Drive

I don't know. I loved the movie. Don't quite get CMH's reference to it as a

Spoiler

mob film

. CMH, are you talking about the

Spoiler

never seen mob that is revealed toward the end of the film but is never seen or do you considered Brooks and Perlman as local mobsters?

Damn, Carey Mulligan is outrageously cute. Maybe she was enhanced by the film's photography and non dialog. Nonetheless, she was striking in her own way. The chemistry between her and Gosling was palpable.

A lot of cable favorites in here as supporting players. Bryan Cranston, Christina Hendricks and Ron Perleman represent some of the best TV out there.

Major plot holes? I wasn't really looking for any, but CMH's slam that the police should be around would have added an obstacle that really wasn't needed. And the fact that they weren't there on occasion wasn't implausible. Not that the movie was totally plausible, but I didn't care. The car scene with the cops was REALLY well done.

And the movie is a love story. Not to get mushy, but it's about sacrifice and loving something more than you. I loved the little song at the end to wrap the movie up. I would also love a Drive 2. They need a Drive 2.