Drive a speedy thrill with intellectual edge

By Christine Jeon     9/14/11 7:00pm

Although from the surface Drive may seem like your typical, car-chase blockbuster, it will easily be on top of critics' movie lists for September.

Drive, the 2011 action-drama film, follows what happens to this character when he involves himself in a heist that's about to go wrong. Directed by Danish film director Nicholas Winding Refn (who received the Best Director Award at the 2011 Cannes Film Festival for Drive), the film stars Ryan Gosling (The Notebook) and English actress Carey Mulligan (An Education), who both deliver superb performances in making the melodramatic film realistic and believable.

"If I drive for you, you give me a time and a place, I give you a five minute window. Anything happens in that five minutes and I'm yours, no matter what. I don't sit in while you're running it down, I don't carry a gun. I drive," the nameless wheelman said. However, he's not just driving a car, he's helping someone with a heist. The nameless character Gosling portrays seems to have quietly settled in Los Angeles as part-mechanic, part Hollywood car stuntman since his last drive. You almost forget that the guy is a wheelman until he meets his neighbor Irene (Mulligan) and her son, Benicio, played by first time actor Kaden Leos. Irene's husband has gotten himself tangled up in a high-stake burglary, and the wheelman decides to "drive" once again so that Irene's family can be at peace. The film follows what happens when the convoluted heist goes wrong.

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Gosling's portrayal of the wheelman is nothing short of perfection. Despite his lack of dialogue in the film, Gosling somehow manages to keep you on board with his very much concealed and emotionless character. Mulligan, like her co-star, does a great job portraying the quiet character but probably won't get the acclaim I predict Gosling will receive. The rest of the cast is comprised of actors that play stereotypical roles you'd expect from an action movie — conspirators, mobsters, flawless gunmen.

Drive definitely has its bold but over-the-top moments, with its gory visuals matching those of Quentin Tarantino, but it also has the cinematographic brilliance that can be found in Christopher Nolan's Inception (Drive will appeal to fans of both directors). The unconventional yet pronounced lighting and sound techniques will challenge the mind artistically, while the dramatic scenes filled with bloodshed and butchery will lead the fainthearted to shut their eyes.

Yet what really makes the film is not its stars, director or cinematography. Rather, it is the underlying message the movie highlights. The film references a fable, The Scorpion and the Frog. A scorpion asks a frog to carry him across the river, but the frog worries the scorpion will sting him. The scorpion tells the frog that if he stings it, they will both die for the frog will have sunk. So the frog agrees and carries the scorpion across the river. Despite his promise, the scorpion stings the frog, and when asked why, he replies that it's simply in his nature. So you might wonder, why does the scorpion exist then? What drives it to live?

Drive essentially follows what might happen if the scorpion does have something to live for. Does it change, or does it return to its natural habits? Beneath the surface, Drive's art, sound, light and actors all strive to answer this very question through Refn's vision. The film is an exhilarating ride that explores human nature. Its action might not exceed the highest standards, but it will invite you to question what it means to live for something, or if it even matters for ?one to live.

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