10.27.2011

Movie Review: Drive

I recently saw Drive, not knowing anything about it other than it inspired a man to throw a hot dog at Tiger Woods because he "wanted to do something courageous and epic."

The movie is strange. It starts off with pink script credits reminiscent of Miami Vice or 80's John Hughes teen movies. And the soundtrack, though original, is heavily influenced by 80's music.

After an opening heist and getaway scene sets the hook, the film turns to a character drama replete with love interest, cute kid, flawed but loving mentor, etc. And then Ryan Gosling does the worst James Dean act I've ever seen. He stands around, wearing a denim jacket, leaning against doorways, and not talking. Except he doesn't look cool and disaffected as James Dean did. He looks retarded. I thought this might be Gilbert Grape 2: The Driver Years.

The theme song from the movie is "A Real Hero" by "College featuring Electric Youth," though I'm not sure whether College is the chick singer and Electric Youth is the synthesizer or vice versa. The lyrics were so clunky that I initially thought they were a tribute to the retard Gosling, but alas, they appear just a contorted way to arrive at the line "Real human being, and a real hero..." as a chorus which sounds really cool the way the chick with the great voice sings it to Top Gun music.

All of which is a really bizarre way to lead up to the main point of this review: you have got to go see this movie. It is amazing. It is a real genre-bender. The bad acting fades away and the weird music becomes compelling. The film is a good human drama and a good action movie (one middle-aged couple left mid-film because of some Tarantino-ish ultraviolence), and the combination of the two is incredible.

I can't begin to do justice to this movie, so let me leave you with this song which I initially found so cheesy and now can't stop listening to.

3 comments:

Charlie McDanger said...

Good thing for the turnaround...that's the best movie I've seen in a long time.

Gosling can act, too. Check out Blue Valentine.

W.C. Varones said...

I thought Ryan Gosling was one of the guys from Two Guys and a Pizza Place.

Did you catch the Sully Sullenberger reference in that song? Man, those lyrics blow.

Charlie McDanger said...

Not sure about the music but I read the neon opening titles were a la Grand Theft Auto.

Happy Super Tuesday!