Drive (2011)

101 min. Director: Nicolas Winding Refn. Cast: Carey Mulligan, Albert Brooks, Christina Hendricks, Ryan Gosling, Bryan Cranston, Ron Perlman, Oscar Isaac.

As they watch TV together, a man asks a boy if a cartoon shark is a "bad guy." "Just look at him," the boy replies. "Does he look like a good guy to you?" Over and over, Nicholas Winding Refn's neo-noir Drive implicitly asks this question, sizing up an individual and contemplating whether or not he deserves the benefit of the doubt.

For one thing, the best "wheel man" in L.A. (Ryan Gosling) must decide if he should help out an ex-con (Oscar Isaac) by serving as his getaway driver. Then there's Refn's playful casting of erstwhile comedy star Albert Brooks in what would ordinarily be the Robert Loggia role of a growly crime boss: underestimate him at your peril. Above all, there's Gosling's anti-hero, the picture's still, quiet center. The scorpion on the back of his jacket alludes to the fable of the scorpion and the frog (famously appropriated by Orson Welles in his Mr. Arkadin): the driver's nature is to sting, but he finds himself in the role of rescuer. So Refn asks you, does he look like a good guy to you?

The rescue in question involves the cartoon-watching boy and his pretty young mother Irene (Carey Mulligan), neighbors to Gosling's unnamed driver. By day a Hollywood stunt driver and local grease monkey, he's nothing if not a car whisperer. In the film's virtuosic opening movement, the driver demonstrates why he's so in-demand, playing a Chevy Impala in concert with a police scanner and making beautiful music of a robbery getaway. Though he mostly looks out for number one, the driver shows loyalty to his boss—a limping garage owner named Shannon (Bryan Cranston, pitch-perfect)—and a sympathy for Irene, for whom the driver clearly longs. (Also in Refn's rogues' gallery mix: Ron Perlman and Mad Men's Christina Hendricks.)

Adapted by Hossein Amini (The Wings of the Dove) from the book by James Sallis, Drive also tips its hat to Walter Hill's 1978 film The Driver, whose hero also went nameless. But one might just as well say the L.A. story unfolds at the corner of Michael Mann and David Lynch. The Danish Refn (Bronson) throws himself into a stylish genre exercise routine, expertly setting a mood with Echo Park dives, neon street light, '80s flavored music, as well as distinctive use of slo-mo, tense sound design and low-angle photography. Add bursts of ultraviolence compared and contrasted to throbbing libido, and Drive proves it's got atmosphere to spare.

Strip away that atmosphere and there's practically no there there, and certainly some will find repellent this next-generation noir made by and for those raised on gore pictures. But Drive is witty (especially a reference to arty European movies), exciting in its action sequences, and oddly moving in its stolen moments of repose, thanks in no small part to Gosling's resonant acting and Refn's haunting musical selections. The film may be hard to swallow, but it leaves viewers with an ambiguous ending to chew on, and Refn's willingness to go out on the stylistic edge marks him as one to watch.

[This review first appeared in Palo Alto Weekly.]

Aspect ratios: 2.40:1

Number of discs: 1

Audio: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1

Street date: 1/31/2012

Distributor:

Drive spins onto Blu-ray with a license to dazzle. Sony again proves to be top of the line in hi-def transfers with its spotless, finely detailed, realistically textured picture here. Banishing compression artifacts and digital tinkering, the image is stable, razor-sharp and beautifully resolved, even in the frequent nighttime sequences, which sport strong shadow detail. The rich color comes through in every bold hue, and contrast is perfectly calibrated. The lossless DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 mix definitively recreates, for home audio, the theatrical surround presentation. The film's memorable music and sound effects remain potent, LFE will have your home theater rumbling, and the discrete dynamics never overwhelm dialogue, which remains distinctly clear from start to finish.

Director Nicholas Winding Refn has spoken publicly about his intention to produce a deluxe special edition (including audio commentary), perhaps in about a year's time, but enthusiasts of the film will be reasonably pleased with the material included here. Though much of it is little more than EPK material, one extra digs deeper with Refn. The first four featurettes gather cast, screenwriter Hossein Amini, producers and second unit director Darrin Prescott to discuss various aspects of the film: story in "I Drive" (5:26, HD), production in "Under the Hood" (11:50, HD), the central love story in "Driver and Irene" (6:14, HD), and the stunt driving in "Cut to the Chase" (4:35, HD). But it's "Drive Without a Driver: Entretien Avec Nicolas Winding Refn" (25:41, HD) that goes into the most detail, witn Refn putting on the official record how the film was developed, how he won the job of directing it and convinced Gosling to make it, the relationship of Drive to Refn's earlier films, and various stories relating to pre-production, production and post-production (including the trip to the Cannes Film Festival).

Drive is ripe for reappraisal on home video: if you missed it, it's well worth checking out, and no doubt many film buffs are already salivating at the prospect of owning the film in gleaming hi-def. [The Blu-ray edition also comes equipped with access to an Ultraviolet Digital Copy of the film.]

Review gear:

  • Panasonic Viera TC-P55VT30 55" Plasma 1080p 3D HDTV
  • Oppo BDP-93 Universal Network 3D Blu-ray Disc Player
  • Denon AVR2112CI Integrated Network A/V Surround Receiver
  • Pioneer SP-BS41-LR Bookshelf Speaker (2)
  • Pioneer SP-C21 Center Speaker
  • Pioneer SW-8 Subwoofer