First, a warning. I cannot say what I want to say about this film without partial spoilers. So, consider yourself warned.
We've all seen or at least heard of this whole "driver" genre, if you will. Epic chases about dudes finishing their jobs to protect and/or exact revenge. They all follow more or less the same template, their appeal lying in their bad ass action star leading man or the sweet cars or the epic chase sequences or whatever. Seen one, seen them all, for the most part.
Except Drive.
Drive takes that whole driving action gimmick genre and turns it into a legit film. All the cliche elements are there, sure, but Drive is sexy, dangerous, exciting, bad ass, suspenseful, dramatic and heartwrenching, often all at the same time. Ryan Gosling turns in an absolute tour de force performance here, one of the best I've ever seen in an action film (from an acting standpoint).
One of my favorite parts of this film is how much is said with so few words. The performances from the cast and the slick, perfectly stylistic direction always told exactly what was going on, even if the characters weren't doing a whole lot of speaking. The performances and the dramatic action speak for itself, which I thought was extremely effective and, frankly, refreshing.
Not to spoil my OW11 wrap-up post (which is due around 6pm on Sunday evening), but I have absolutely no idea what the Academy was doing this year. Drive is an effective film that keeps the audience guessing, filled with stunning performances, solid direction, a fantastic screenplay and was a success at the box office... and was largely ignored by the Oscars. Extremely disappointing. This film deserves better than that.
