Drive

Drive was featured at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) this year and the buzz spread quick.  Easily one of the most interesting crime thrillers I have seen in a while, this movie was both shocking and extremely compelling. 

I had not read anything about what the movie was like and only saw that it got a high rating on Rotten Tomatoes.  With no expectations, I went into the movie with an open mind.  I came out incredibly amused, as the film was nothing what I had expected it to be whatsoever.


Ryan Gosling plays a professional stuntman who is wanted dead after a heist gone terribly wrong.  The movie begins with one of the most intense and gripping scenes I have ever seen any movie open with.  I found myself on edge the whole time, anxiously awaiting for what happened next.  Gosling's character is an extremely quiet, 'tough as nails' guy and this is evident in the first half hour of the movie. 

Although there was not a lot of commentary in the movie, what did it for me was the artwork the director, Nicolas Winding Refn, was able to create from simple camera focuses.  He focused largely on the face of Gosling, and this is evident in one scene where Gosling stares down a gentleman at the bar and doesn't blink until the scene is over.

The ending of this movie is very up in the air and I would totally understand why somebody would want to throw a large diet coke at the screen over it.  I won't ruin the surprise and I'll leave it at that.  This movie is nothing what I expected it to be, but easily one of my favourite movies in the past two years.  9/10, check it out.