
Shannon seems to serve as Driver's employer/manager, and assistant, giving Driver legitimate employment at the garage and setting up stunt driving gigs. He also outfits the cars that Driver needs for his side jobs. Shannon however, has ties to a local crime figures Bernie Rose (Albert Brooks) and Nino (Ron Perlman) We see him asking Bernie for $400,000.00 which Shannon needs to buy a car to get Driver into professional racing. Bernie is skeptical, reminding Shannon that there are plenty of good race cars and crews already out there. Shannon explains that it isn't the car so much as it is the Driver that matters. After seeing Driver do a test run around a track, they come to an agreement. Bernie stretches out his hand to Driver for a handshake, but Driver says "My hands are a little dirty." Bernie counters "That's Ok. Mine are too."
At the garage Bernie explains to Driver how he and Shannon got acquainted. Apparently Shannon set up cars for B movies that Bernie produced. He also overcharged, which Bernie says he didn't mind. Shannon then tried the same thing on Nino, Bernie's associate, and found that Nino did mind, which cost Shannon a broken hip. Driver doesn't seem moved by the uderlying urgency in this story, When Bernie asks if he's ready to win some races, Driver says "I hope so."
Standard appears sincere in his repentance, grateful for a second chance. However, he is soon badly beaten by thugs in front of Benecio. Driver happens on the scene finding Standard bloodied, and learns that he owes protection money from his prison term, which is getting raised every day. He's being pressured to rob a pawnshop, to even things up, which he doesn't want to do. They have also promised to come after his family next. Driver agrees to help and goes with Standard to meet Cook (James Biberi) the man behind the beatings and threats to Standard's family. Cook has another person, Blanche (Christina Hendricks) picked out to help with the job. Of course the job goes badly, and Driver ends up with a million dollars in a duffel bag, forced to sort things out. We find he is as good at hurting and killing as he is at driving.
Driver is of course the classic loner, his rituals and spartan needs, giving him a lot in common with Jef Costello in "Le Samourai" and many other hitmen such as George Clooney's character in "The American." For all we know, Driver once was a hitman. Shannon tells us that five years ago, he just appeared out of nowhere and asked for a job. Driver's awkward social skills certainly suggest some isolation from the rest of the world, and he can stomp a man's face under his boot until there's no head left, without missing a beat. But we don't know for sure, and in this movie, he is not a hit man simply the Driver. We learn that his brief interactions with Irene and Benecio meant more to him than we might have imagined. We don't know where Driver came from, or even what he wants. Money seems trivial to him. Where a hitman has a set objective driver does not, at least until Irene and Benecio's safety is in question. He attempts to solve things the easiest way possible, by simply returning the money, but this is of course not possible, and he knows it and arranges accordingly.
Nicholas Winding Refn borrows from the car and driver movies, and noir movies, mixed with the style of Asian action films, but this always feels like his own film. His awareness of the genres he's working with is obvious, and he clearly loves where his film comes from. The Driver is an impossible character, the guy who comes from nowhere with exactly the right skills to take care of a certain situation. He has no name, no motives, he's just a force waiting to be set loose. He acts like a hitman but he isn't a hit man. He doesn't seem intent on standing outside of humanity, he just doesn't know how to relate to it. Given the chance, he seems overjoyed at the prospect.
He isn't surprised however, when it proves to be transitory. He's the Driver after all. He's all about passing through, the journey not the destination. With his methodical nature and rituals, it's clearly important that he passes through the right way though, as winning and losing seem to mean very little to him. The Driver who begins the film as little more than a personified function learns a little about being a human being (as is heavily reinforced by the soundtrack) on the way. He's not out to live or die, he just drives, but that doesn't keep him from caring enough to get attached, although it isn't in his nature to stop for very long. That doesn't mean he can't look out the window and wonder, what if he could?
We don't know however, how things will turn out for the Driver. He's the mysterious right man in the right place at the right time, but he comes across as human enough, in a similar way to Charles Bronson's Bishop character in the Mechanic. We know he's the best, but we don't think he's invulnerable. We're not even sure if he wants to live. When he has a job he has to see it concluded. The money is a very small part of that. Perhaps it's enough that for a moment he got to see his own humanity before driving away.
6 comments:
Brilliant review. I am a huge fan of Bullitt and Vanishing Point and have been wondering about this film. I am not a terribly huge Ryan Gosling fan so I think that's been a part of my reluctance to see this. However, I do admire Ron Perlman and Bryan Cranston both.
Driver sounds like a great character, like Jean Reno's The Professional or even Jason Statham's Transporter. There's something about the crew guys, the one's that do the job to the best of their ability and by their own peculiar code.
Thanks Melissa! I ad the same reservations, not too enamored with Gosling in general, but he pulled it off well here. Your comparisons are all quite fitting. It's kind of interesting in that the movie made me feel nostalgic for movies like Bullit and Vanishing Point, yet at the same time, it's very modern. Let me know your thoughts if you get to check it out. I suspect you'll enjoy it.
I went back and forth on this movie and end the end decided not to watch it.
It reminded me too much of a cross between The Transporter and Death Race.
Well sort of anyway.
I usually enjoy these types of movies but I guess I just wasn't in the mood.
:)
T
Hey Tirzah! It's actually a lot different from those movies, more of an old school feeling, but I know what you mean!
Glad you pointed this review out to me, Brent, as I only just saw DRIVE on Blu-Ray. I agree with much of what you've said here. What strikes me most about the film is the interesting use of subjective camera. Refn is somehow able to position the camera around Gosling in a way that sparks a deep intimacy between the viewer and the character, especially when we're in the car with him. (I understand a special process was used to photograph the driving scenes.)
I've never responded to Gosling the way I did here, and Refn ought to be credited with making the actor a movie star of the caliber of McQueen and Eastwood.
The neo-subjective camera here also plays up one of the true recurring themes of the Criminal Movies blog: the existentialist anti-hero. Refn elevates this into modern mythology, celebrating the Driver's isolation, sexual and romantic yearning and animalistic danger as '80s synth pop opera in the greatest, most delirious sense of the term.
Finally worth noting is Newton Thomas Sigel's amazing cinematography. Gorgeous saturated color, a highly filmic approach, in a day and age when the monochromes and digital painting of hyper-post production tend to dominate.
The marketing boys sure messed up on DRIVE, as far more people would love this film than have seen it. So do check it out, ladies and gentlemen, when you get the chance!
Jeff
Thanks for stopping in Jeff! You make some great points, I love the comparison to "80's synth pop opera" it really does use all the best qualities of that idea, and it makes them work well. Couldn't agree more with your praise of the cinematography. It's a beautiful looking and sounding film. Re: the marketing, yeah i'd agree there too. I only checked it out by chance at the theater. It really should've had a major push. AGree with you on Gosling, he's an actor I don't usually find notable but he really made the part his. It's really a film that surprises you, in that it's soaked with history, yet feels amazingly modern as well. Hoping Refn will get a little more support on his next one. He's on a major roll.
Post a Comment