Movie Review: Drive

"Drive"

Released September 2011

Directed by: Nicolas Winding Refn

Okay, we saw the movie Drive this past weekend and I thought I'd post a quick review. This movie received good reviews from critics, was exciting enough of a concept for my husband to agree to go, and has one of my favorite actresses: Carey Mulligan. So I was looking forward to seeing it.

Drive was filmed well, great cinematography. There were a lot of shots and symbolism that I found to be incredibly well done and artistic. The acting was also pretty good although there wasn't a ton of dialogue. The style of the film was actually kind of a throw back to the 80s. I'm not a fan of 80s pop culture, style, or film in general (there are a few gems of course) so the stylized writing, the soundtrack, etc. were really not doing it for me. That style may evoke an entirely different feeling for someone who is nostalgic about the 80s. Goslings jacket in the film carried heavy symbolism and was very reminiscent of the 80s. I could see the jacket becoming iconic, it reminded me a little of Rebel Without a Cause. That being said, I doubt it will become iconic because the movie seems to have failed on some levels. It was not a crowd pleaser. Most people seemed to leave confused or annoyed. The actual story was lacking. It was predictable but not satisfying. It was slow with a lot of dead silence on screen which was an artistic choice that made it a little bit boring at times. Despite the violence which was very gorey, the film came across as slow-paced and unexciting in general.

I've been mulling over this film trying to decide if I like it or not for days and I haven't really made up my mind yet. What does that say about it? It clearly had some very good elements or I'd just call it a terrible film---I can't bring myself to call it a terrible film when it succeeded on so many levels. Yet, I can't say I enjoyed it either and I know it won't make it into my collection. I'll probably never see it a second time. Mixed feelings.

---Noelle