Last night David and I met up with Darion, Tamar, Ollie, Rob and Caleb at the ArcLight in Hollywood, CA for an early evening showing of the new Ryan Gosling film Drive and I am happy to report that we all loved it very much. As you may recall, it was just about a year ago that we saw the first photos of Ryan Gosling and Carey Mulligan on the SoCal set of Drive and here we are … opening weekend. Drive starts out deceptively slow … but the action amps up about midway thru and MAN is it a ride. There wasn’t one thing I did not love about Drive. Not one thing.
If you are familiar and are a fan of animé films then you will love Drive. The whole film — from direction, to cinematography, to the music — is made to look like a live-action animé film. It’s just a beautiful film to watch. The use of color is superb and the acting, as you might expect from Gosling and Mulligan, is top notch. I was really unprepared for the violence that suddenly pops up midway thru but, in fine animé style, it kinda serves the purpose of the story. I honestly don’t know how else to describe this film. We were all blown away by how good it is. And the soundtrack? Amazing! I had to come straight home and buy the album on Amazon. Without question, Gosling is the star of this film. His ability to … act … even without having to say a word is impressive. I find him completely believable in every role he plays … he is just that good. Sadly, I don’t expect that this film will blow up and enjoy mainstream (or awards) success but it is deffo worth your time. IMHO, Drive is one of the best films that has come out this year. It is really, really damn good.
After completing my jury duty service last week, I am breathing a sigh of relief this week … that is, until I go to my DMV appointment this afternoon. Blah. But, life is good otherwise … no complaints here. Happy Monday!!
DMV is actually very painless if you make an appointment. Husband had to have his photo taken for license, he was done within 15 mins.
I loved this movie, too, with the exception of how graphic/brutal some of the violence was. It didn’t ruin the movie for me, but I could have handled a little less visual violence.
That scene in the elevator is almost better than his MTV best kiss scene with Rachel a few years ago.
Sigh.
The movie is getting some pretty horrible reviews, as is the music.
Over 90% of the reviews have been positive (literally, see Rotten Tomatoes link below) and it won the Best Director prize at Cannes this year?
http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/drive_2011/
I’m definitely going to see it…Ricky Smiley radio show said it was a must see also…love, love, love Ryan Gosling :)
I saw Drive this past weekend too, and absolutely loved it! There was not a single thing I didn’t like about the film. I especially loved how at the end of the film shadows were used in the scene if ya know what I mean (I don’t want to spoil anything major). Like you Trent, I bought the soundtrack as soon as I returned home.
I loved it… It reminded me of the 80s & 90s Pacino films, especially the scene in the bathroom (hope that makes sense – don’t want to spoil the scene). I’m not familiar with anime but I can see the connection.
The acting and directing ans music were amazing though!!
I loved this movie! I know a lot of people are upset because they were basically expecting some sort of Fast and the Furious (and if that was the type of movie I thought it would have been, I wouldn’t have seen it). I loved the music, the direction, the acting; basically everything you said :-)
so good. so so soooo good. i also ran home and downloaded the soundtrack. i found myself bopping my head in the theatre. this whole movie reminded me of a comic book. it was fantastic!
it won best director at cannes to boot!