Movie Nineteen and Twenty One and One Hundred Forty Four and Two Hundred Twenty Three
Drive is my favorite movie of 2011. Drive also has some of the most abhorrent cover art ever, I literally hate to even post it. After the movie’s release it seemed like people either loved it or hated it, and I think I can pinpoint why that is.
First off, the trailer gives the impression of an edge-of-your-seat nonstop car chase. That is not the case, though there are several amazingly tense chase sequences. Second off, there is actually very little dialog in the movie, and the star, Ryan Gosling, has only a few lines. The film is very moody and very powerful if you are willing to pay attention. This also brings me back to the cover because for some reason Sony Pictures decided to make the film look like a straight to DVD horror movie.
Not. Even. Close. There is a fair amount of graphic violence, though.
Drive is a movie that requires multiple viewings, in my opinion. Because there is little dialog there is much open to interpretation and much to be missed. This is partly why I watched Drive two nights in a row, the other reason is because I love Drive.
Despite all my love for the film, I am cautious to wholeheartedly recommend it to everyone. It’s not for everyone, and I don’t think it tries to be. It rewards its viewers with a moody atmosphere, terrific retro soundtrack, great characters, exciting chases, and fantastic performances (Albert Brooks as the villain is perfect casting). If you watch Drive and love it, welcome to the club. If you watch Drive knowing what to expect and still don’t like it, thanks for giving it a shot. If you watch it and don’t like it because of what it doesn’t do, then sorry you watched it.
I give it 5 stolen black Mustangs out of 5.
PS – This is what I wish the cover art had been
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Glad to see someone who shares my love for this movie. The snubs this movie got for the Oscars are unbelievable (will never forgive them for this). They nominate that “Incredible load and Incredibly Close” movie (i think that’s the title) and not this. The Oscars have always subbed countless good movies, but this one was just too good to do that, but they found a way. Great review.
Great review Andy! I’m joining your club, in a lover of this film. I also watched it two nights in a row. I couldn’t get enough of it. Here’s my thoughts http://mrmarakai.wordpress.com/2012/02/03/drive/
Reblogged this on Andy Watches Movies and commented:
I watched this again, so I figured I would repost my previous review of it since you likely didn’t see it the first time around.
LOVED IT!
For sure. Don’t be surprised if you see me reblog this one again later in the year. I almost broke down and watched it last night, too.
I really need to re-watch it. I have seen it once earlier this year before I started this blog. Been meaning to pick it up on blu.
Have you seen Bronson, starring Tom Hardy> It was directed by the same guy Nicolas Refn (sp?) and is a very different, Clockwork Orange type of prison film.
Yeah, I loved that one. The only other Refn film I watched was Valhalla Rising which I didn’t like much at all.
http://andywatchesmovies.com/2012/03/19/valhalla-rising-31712/
Awesome movie! Loveee Ryan Gosling!
Me too. I searched high and low to get outfits like his from this film and then I realized that I just can’t pull it off like he does.
Haha my fiancé also loved his outfits but they are deinetley hard to do!
Drive is one of my favorite movies. I too was totally put out by the cover art and – at the time I was anti-Gossling. After this I am a Gossling fan and I really do need to watch this again. Not to plug my site, but I think I gave this a pretty good write-up if you ever wanted to check it out. I am glad you reposted this so I have a reminder to rewatch!
I will search for that now!
Some people loved it, other loathed it. Personally I thought it was great. Albert Brooks was great in the film, the direction was fantastic, and it gets better every viewing. My only complaints go to the film’s advertising. I agree with you that the poster looks awful and is so obviously photoshopped.
Of course, this didn’t detract from my view of the film. I still loved it. Good review.
I can’t imagine anyone else except Albert Brooks in that role which is crazy considering the roles he is known for. While I can certainly see why people wouldn’t like it, especially if it was completely different than their expectations, I think it’s one of the better movies to come out in recent memory.
It was my favorite for 2011 as well. Good call w/ the cover art looking like a DVD Horror film, and good choice for the alternate.
That cover art you posted is so much better. Have you heard of the movie Near Dark? A great vampire movie from the eighties, but they made the cover look like it was a Twilight clone. I can’t stand when companies do that. Just like the cover art here. I guess they think Drive will rent and sell better with a violent looking cover.
I actually thought about making a spin-off blog about shitty cover art/posters based on this and Take Shelter
That’s not a bad idea. I would say run with it. I don’t think I’ve seen many blogs based off of that.
I totally agree with what you said about needing to see this film several times. I didn’t really know what to think the first time I saw it and gave it a tentative 3/4. Then I saw it again a while later and appreciated it a lot more. I upgraded it to a 3.75/4 (I wonder why I hesitate to give movies the full 4 so often…).
I’m a bit stingy with my “perfect scores” but in my head, I consider them films I could watch no matter what mood I’m in.
Great review. I get why certain people love this film and it doesn’t bother me at all, but I didn’t love it (even though I wanted). Even after multiple viewings, I didn’t care an awful lot about the characters and overall I felt it lacked a bit of punch. Carey Mulligan was my favorite part of the cast and I really didn’t enjoy Brooks. I actually felt he was horribly miscast. I never found him threatening.
I think the reason I liked Brooks as the character was because he does seem so miscast as a villain. It’s like there’s a lot under the surface. I can understand how you feel about the film, though. There’s something about it that really just clicks with me on every level.
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I wouldn’t mind seeing more of Gosling taking up more roles as he did here. He took a risk and, wow, did it pay off. A handful of scenes were very tense. I remember shaking during the robbery because I couldn’t take the tension anymore. And yet the picture had very human moments, too. I love playing the movie’s soundtrack in my car.
Oh, man…I would feel like such a badass listening to the soundtrack while I was driving.
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I agree, best movie of 2011. It was hypnotically epic.
Totally. I just watched it again as the first movie for my new blu-ray player and receiver. So great.
What gear do you watch your movies with? Receiver, BD player, speakers, screen?
Let’s see…
LG 47LD650 (47″ lcd)
Marantz SR5007 receiver
OPPO BDP-103 blu-ray player
Martin Logan Motion 12 floorstanding speakers
Martin Logan Motion 8 center channel speaker
Klipsch B-20 bookshelf speakers
Nice gear…the OPPO will be my next purchase.
I’m very impressed with it. I was using my PS3 before and the OPPO boots and plays things at lightning speed compared to it. Plus I really feel like the picture is marginally better, but that could be my brain justifying the price of one…
Watching 300 movies – it’s justifyable don’t worry…I’m using a PS3 right now and a crappy Samsung. My buddy had an OPPO but sold it, he mainly used it for the SACD capability though. Loading speed is always nice though.
Yeah, I figured I should treat myself since watching movies takes up so much of my free time haha
I haven’t popped in an SACD yet, but I like that it plays them. I mainly bought one because of the ease of doing a DIY conversion to make it a region-free player.
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