THE INTERACTIVE FILM MAGAZINE
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OFF/camera
Matthew Bell takes
an alternative view of
a critically-acclaimed
movie now out on DVD
an alternative view of
a critically-
movie now out on DVD
Driving me crazy...
Gere did this kind of featureless, narcissistic acting far better in American Gigolo.
Far worse, though, is the needless violence that peppers this slick but nasty and cynical film.
I should have been prepared, having encountered director Nicolas Winding Refn through his Danish gangster trilogy, Pusher. Incidentally, the second part, With Blood On My Hands, is a smart, if gory tale.
Before moving to Holllywood to direct Drive, Winding Refn made Bronson about a British hard man who won’t let the system grind him down and, as a result, has spent most of the last four decades in prison. The Guardian’s Peter Bradshaw reckoned the film was “geared towards the violent geezer-porn market”.
Needless violence peppers this slick
but nasty and
cynical film
but nasty and
cynical film
With Drive, which stars Gosling as a stunt performer and getaway driver, Winding Refn has added tiresome Tarantino-style dialogue and dollops of European art-house pretension to his trademark violence.
Rarely have I heard an audience gasp (and giggle nervously) this much as the knives, baseballs bats, shotguns, hammers, scalpels, boots and even cutlery are wielded to murderous effect.
These must be the only gangsters who forswear the normal tool of their trade, the handgun. Presumably, a shooter wouldn’t have made sufficient on-screen mess.
There are many things wrong with the inexplicably well-reviewed Drive.
In no particular order, there are the cartoon crime bosses, the thumping 1980s-style synthesiser soundtrack, the Michael Mann obsession, the ludicrous plot and winsome sentimentality, Carey Mulligan’s simpering performance and Ryan Gosling’s supremely irritating blank face. Richard
Cinematic violence has to have a point and, in Drive’s defence, the first killing does; brutally reminding us that crime, no matter how well intentioned, always has consequences.
The problem is that having roused the audience, Winding Refn seems intent on desensitising it with a series of tit-for-tat hits by Gosling’s character and the mobsters he foolishly takes on.
Finally, a note of warning: yes, you can shut your eyes during the worst violence but, thanks to modern cinema sound, you can’t keep out the slashing, squelching and stomping.
IRRITATING: Ryan Gosling at the wheel in Drive
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