DRIVE

Nicolas Winding Ref Drive works across time and genre.  It’s set in present-day Laos Angele, uses an 80s score and soundtrack, features a tragic 50s nor protagonist, and wraps everyone up in archetypical figures that manage to feel fresh through strong performances and gorgeous cinematography.  It’s a film that confidently walks the line between alienating its audience with bold choices but it never strays so far into the obtuse or the strange that you lose the hard-boiled crime story simmering underneath.  It constantly challenges the audience to look away with its intensity, its thoughtfulness, and its brutality, but it’s too damn entertaining to look away.

Like all great nor protagonists, the Driver (Ryan Gosling) has a code and it makes him good at his job.  He’s a stunt-driver by day, but at night his true driving talent shines when he works as a wheel man.  He can outrun his pursuers when necessary, but his real strength is in his reserve and patience in the face of danger.  While he attempts to keep others at a distance, he eventually warms up to his neighbor Irene (Carey Mulligan) and her young son Benedicto.  When Irene’s husband Standard Gabriel (Oscar Isaac) gets out of prison, he comes home and owes protection money to bad folks.  The Driver decides he’ll help Gabriel on a job in order to protect Irene and Benedicto, but matters then fall apart as shady figures Noni (Ron Perl man) and Bernie Rose (Albert Brooks) come into play.  Like all great nor protagonists, The Driver breaks from his code to do something honorable and it leads to his downfall.

Movie Name: Drive 
Director: Nicolas Winding Ref n
Genres: Action, Drama
Star Cast: Albert Brooks, Bryan Scranton, Carey Mulligan, Christina Hendricks, Ryan Gosling.
Release Date: 16 September 2011
Synopsis: A Hollywood stuntman (Ryan Gosling) who moonlights as a getaway driver for thieves finds that a price has been put on his head after a failed robbery.