Drive: The Movie Only Film Students Loved

Title: Drive

Director: Nicolas Winding Refn

Writer: Hossein Amini

Featuring: Ryan Gosling, Carey Mulligan, Albert Brooks, Bryan Cranston

Grade: B

Synopsis: A driver who only drives, stops driving.

Good Movie For: Film Students

I'm a hoarder. I hoard movies. When the latest sale on blu-rays and DVD's happens online or at my local store, I can't help but buy the entire stock of marked down movies. Case in point why I have hundreds of movies in my collection that I haven't yet watched. I'm slowly, but surely, making my way through the heap of unwatched stories.

When Drive first came out in theaters, I was extremely excited about it. I love Ryan Gosling and practically everything he is in, so I thought that this was going to be an instant favorite. That is, until all of the reviews started coming in. Not reviews from critics online, but reviews from family and friends. I tend to take reviews from other people with a grain of salt. My mother suggested that I watch The Tourist because it was an amazing story. My friend said that it was the worst movie he had ever seen and didn't comprehend how it even got made in the first place. The consensus for Drive was very similar to this, but skewed in the other direction.

My family and some of my friends absolutely hated this movie. My father and cousin even went as far as asking for a refund from the movie theater. On the other hand, my friends who are also film students absolutely loved it. I wasn't quite sure where the disconnect was. Why were only a select few people in love with the movie, while the rest thought it was a waste of time? This tug of war of whether or not the movie was good or bad left me afraid to watch it in theaters, but of course when it went on sale at Costco I had to have it. 

I get it. Looking at it from the two different standpoints I understand why this had such a weird effect on the people around me. When you go into a movie called Drive you expect some badass driving, which this film does have, but not to the extent that people wanted. They expected Fast and the Furious 17, but got something a little above Cars. "He's a driver, but he never drives." Looking from that standpoint, yea. It was a let down, but looking at it from a story standpoint, it was really good. 

This guy drives. That's all he does. He doesn't stick his neck out for you if shit goes down. He gets you to one place from another. We get it, but when he finally does put everything on the line, shit hits the fan. The stoic driver starts to fuck shit up, all while clad in an amazing golden scorpion jacket. 

Is there a lot of driving in Drive? No. Is it a great story? Absolutely. Although the title and premise is a bit misleading, I still think that this is a film that needs to be watched. Get out of the mindset of car chases and street races and just try to enjoy the movie for what it is. A driver who only drives, stops driving.