DRIVE
5 out of 5 stars

OMG, this was EXCELLENT!!! i’m not even a big fan of film noir movies, but i really liked this one! at first glance, this felt like a heist gone wrong, but the style, the music (that 80s electro synth pop!), the way the story is presented is all done in a way that gives this movie extra points. it's more of a 4 star but EXCELLENT job! :)

like i said, at first glance, you don’t really expect much... a young blond guy in a scorpion jacket who has no name...just goes by driver or “kiddo” (ryan gosling) drives around downtown L.A. as a getaway driver for these two crooks. that’s just his night job. his day job (because everyone has one) is part stuntman for the movies...part mechanic at crippled shannon’s auto shop. (breaking bad’s bryan cranston) he also befriends a young woman named irene (carey mulligan) who has a young son named benicio, and they live in the same apartment building as him. the three of them begin to hang out more, and it seems that the driver really loves irene. but then...irene gets a phone call from her husband’s lawyer stating that standard (that’s her hubby’s name) will be released from prison early for good behavior. the driver decides to back off from irene, but standard could tell that his wife has feelings for this guy... it also doesn’t help the fact that standard is asked to rob a pawn shop in the valley to pay off his debts for protection while he was inside, but he won’t do it. his “clients” kick his ass real bad, and the driver decides to lend his services for the sake of irene and benicio because they threatened to hurt them. so, what’s a nice guy like the driver to do? EXACTLY... ;)

this reminded me a LOT of pulp fiction, reservoir dogs, inglorious basterds, and L.A. confidential because of the way they paint L.A. as this dreamtown for crooks, the mob, and even your average citizen i.e. irene. yes, there’s lots of violent moments i.e. the fork in the eyeball, the hammer to the hand, the arm vein split, or the face bashing! it’s all bloody and gross, but it’s done with a certain style like scorsese or tarantino. there isn’t much dialogue between the characters, so you really have to watch how they react and act in certain situations. it may not seem like much, but subtlety is the name of the game for this one. def worth a watch... ;)