Drive

There are many mysteries surrounding the main character in Drive, but there’s no mistaking what he does for a living. Whether it’s performing stunts on a movie set, taking laps around a racetrack, or navigating traffic on crowded city streets, he’s a whiz behind the wheel.

Ryan Gosling is one of the most versatile actors working today, and he offers another top-notch portrayal as a nameless, a poker-faced Los Angeles man who chooses both his words and his actions very carefully. It’s clear he’s hiding secrets from his past, but at first the audience isn’t sure what. Or why.

He has an ally in Shannon (Bryan Cranston), his friend and agent, and reluctantly develops romantic feelings for a woman (Carey Mulligan) who moves into his building with her young child, at first unaware of her background that involves a criminal husband (Oscar Isaac). That relationship is jeopardized further when the driver becomes a target of organized crime, specifically a restaurateur (Ron Perlman) and a ruthless financier (Albert Brooks) who want retribution after a failed heist in which he was hired for the getaway.
The film provides the highest profile stage yet for director Nicolas Winding Refn, who has developed a following thanks to stylish low-budget independent films such as Bronson and Valhalla Rising.

In Drive, the filmmaker is working from a script by Hossein Amini (The Wings of the Dove) — adapted from a novel by James Sallis – which allows plenty of time for character development. It’s a study of a troubled man who can’t escape his past, and loses his trust for everyone around him as a result.

For an actor with so much screen time, Gosling isn’t given much dialogue. His performance is one of facial expressions and body language, and his quiet demeanor makes his violent outbursts that much more shocking and potent. The supporting cast is excellent, including a welcome change-of-pace role for Brooks.

Refn is a talent to watch, as he toys with audience expectations, but not in a way that is pretentious or manipulative. The film begins as an unassuming character study before it evolves into a riveting ultraviolent thriller. Fortunately, the result doesn’t lead to motion sickness.

Rated R, 100 minutes.