MYST #6: Drive

Ryan Gosling has been playing a number of different roles lately and I would argue that his character in Drive is his best. Drive is not your average Hollywood film. The film has many of the characteristics of a Hollywood film, while maintaing that independent film feeling. Just one reason why Drive is an awesome film. 

The story starts as an unnamed driver, played by Ryan Gosling, prepares to be the driver of a robbery. After a couple misfortunes, Gosling and the two robbers he’s driving are found in the middle of a police chase, but thanks to Gosling’s expert driving and creativity, the car gets lost in a flood of fans leaving the Clippers game. The creativity of Goslings’s character proves key to many scenes throughout this film. Later,  he meets his new neighbor Irene, played by Carey Mulligan. Gosling’s character has an attachment to Irene’s young son, whose father, named Standard, is in prison. Once he gets released from prison, Standard finds himself indebted to people who protected him in prison. After seeing Standard get beat up in a parking lot, Gosling’s character gets himself involved in the conflict. To pay the debt off, Standard must rob a pawn shop in the valley. The robbery ends up going terribly wrong and the driver finds himself alone with one million dollars in cash. Throughout the rest of the film the driver tries to get rid of the money and ensure Irene and her son’s health. The driver ends up coming face to face with the main antagonist, named Bernie. There they come to agreement that the driver will hand over the money and Irene will be safe, but in the parking lot they end up getting in a fight. The driver comes out victorious leaving Bernie and one million in cash on the ground of a parking lot.

The cinematography in this film was outstanding. After research I found out that this movie was filmed digitally, attributing the overall brightness and color to this film. Some of the chase scenes in this film left me mesmerized and wondering how they got some of the shots. Newton Thomas Sigel took full advantage of the setting in Los Angeles to capture shots of the city that I thought were cool. For a relatively low budget film, I was impressed that they got some of the shots that they did. I guess that is a positive of independent film, the attention to detail in every scene.

Overall, I thought this film was outstanding. The plot was very entertaining, cinematography great, and had many great acting performances. I give Drive 4 out of 4 stars and would recommend it to anyone.