Maybe it’s just the YouTube of “A Real Hero” talking, but I find myself more warmly disposed toward Drive today than I was when I wrote this. I still feel that when a film of this film’s obvious intelligence dances this close to the whole “down these mean streets a man must go” necessary-violence thing, it’s a lot tougher to get past than when a film of obvious stupidity does so. (I watch Road House a lot.) And I still maintain that the film didn’t push the Driver far enough in one direction or another emotionally for us to have a working context for his violent outbursts. But in retrospect I can see little pointillist moments almost coalescing into something emotionally coherent. His completely unknown past prior to six years ago; the way he draws the line at violence but nevertheless still possesses a familiarity with and talent for the criminal world; the totally convincing viciousness of his threat against the guy he once drove when they bump into each other at that diner; the effortless rapidity with which he adjusts to kill-or-be-killed violence; his obvious guilt over his involvement with Standard’s final criminal act and subsequent death; the slow-mo shot of him looking horrified after he kills the man in the elevator; wearing a mask the one time he intentionally sets out to kill someone; leaving the cash behind; leaving Irene and Benicio behind even though no one’s out to get him or them anymore; even Standard’s lingered-on homecoming speech about how what he did in the past was shameful, but now he’s got a second chance…If I were the theorizing type, my theory would be that once upon a time the Driver was a real rough customer, but he changed, and the events of the film brought out a side in him he’d long suppressed, and so he abandons the woman and child he’s come to care about rather than subject them to it again.
The reason I’d love for this to be a little more than theorizing is not because I need things spoonfed to me — what I’m calling for is more emotional information, not more plot-fact information — but because it would be interesting for the film to have developed the Driver more in this regard. I don’t know if Matt Seneca was kidding when he suggested the film should have shown the Driver crying after he killed the two guys who attacked him and Blanche in the hotel, but amen to that. That’s a scene I’d have liked to see.
But I saw plenty of lovely things. The film was impeccably cast and delightfully acted, from Gosling’s quiet kindness to Ron Perlman grinning Noo Yawk gangsterisms. The ’80s look and sound was luscious and unpretentious. The violence was refreshingly hideous, mitigating against the redemptive role it plays in the narrative. And even if it didn’t quite get there emotionally, I do feel like it tried, and it had enough other things going for it that, to a degree at least, it can be forgiven for stopping short of where it needed to go. In many ways my entire life up until this point has put me on a quest for sad trash, and Drive comes pretty close.
Tags: Drive, movie reviews, movies, Nicholas Winding Refn, reviews
Have you seen Refn’s “Bronson”? I realized my take on “Drive” (specifically that the movie is about his transformation from a “fake hero” to a “real hero” – i.e., one who will use violence to defend his loved ones) comes out of my already having seen “Bronson”, which is about another kind of transformation: the two movies are variations on a similar theme.
I hope your take is wrong, because that’s a gross message!
And no, I haven’t seen Bronson. I can’t remember the last movie I watched before Drive.
Yeah – I think it’s kind of an unpleasant worldview – although it is beautifully presented…
Refn is very much into a kind of macho trip and, as far as I can tell, he’s not especially ironic about it.
That is really unfortunate. And after all the work I did to get right with this movie!
Ah well — authorial intent is obviously not the final word. Look at Rambo.
Yes – definitely! And I should add that I think your reading is 100% supported by what’s in the movie. (And maybe I should also add, in the vein of your earlier comment about beginning to have problems with “movie” characters, I’ve started to have issues with lots of “blood poetry” movies that in my earlier years I embraced wholeheartedly. So, I feel a bit about “Drive” the way I’ve come to feel about, say, certain things in Peckinpah movies: the poetry is moving/impressive, but there’s something sour about the worldview that makes me warier now than I was 15 years ago).
Yeah, this movie seems to benefit from a bit of distance. A friend of mine said that she enjoyed it more a day later, after sitting with it awhile. Kind of like you mentioned – the scattered, pointillist nature of The Driver’s interior nature seems to come into slightly more focus as you move away from it – it’s like some kind of emotional optical illusion.
Jon: I find myself agreeing on blood poetry. That’s kind of alarming to me, actually. I don’t want to get responsible in my old age.
Jeremie: That’s really well put.
Along the lines of perception – and this just occurred to me – maybe Refn is playing with that even more than we give him credit for. This movie trades in and flirts with enough movie cliches, ( art film cliches, romance film cliches, action film cliches ) maybe he uses that as a bit of film narrative shorthand. Much like how Zack Snyder commented, upon making Watchmen, moviegoers had finally had enough years of superhero movies under their belt to get the irony and commentary that they were going to find in the film. ( Not enough in the end, being my opinion. ) Maybe Refn figures that we’ve had enough exposure to the laconic, Master of Begrudging Violence that we were going to find in our protagonist to not have to say much more on the subject for us to “get it”. I can’t help but remember when The Driver and Benicio are watching cartoons, and Benicio says “Of course he’s the bad guy. Just look at him!”
i totally was not kidding! that whole movie, line after line, i was like “that’s EXACTLY what i would have said/done!” the first time gosling didn’t do something that was the exact action i would have taken in his situation was that hotel room scene, cause i would have cried like a bitch
I hear you, although it alarms me to think that you watched him grab the shower curtain rod and stab the guy in the neck with it and thought “Yep, that’s how I’d have handled it.” 🙂
Finally saw Drive tonight. Wanted to see it just to understand what the Johnny Negron print was all about. I read the book a few years back and while I was watching the movie I couldn’t help thinking that it was really different from the source material, but it had been long enough that I couldn’t figure out how. I’m skimmming though right now and I came across this passage.
“Driver wasn’t much of a reader. Wasn’t much of a movie person either, you came right down to it. He’d liked Road House, but that was a long time back.”
I knew there was a reason I liked this movie.