FILM REVIEW: Drive

10 out of 10

A serious look for a seriously good movie

If you go into this expecting a sensationalised, speedy blockbuster, you'll be pleasantly disappointed... hopefully. Drive is instead, is a classic gangster film, from a bygone era of cinematic storytelling. With screen notes that span from the 50's - 80's, the overall piece wraps itself in a way that makes you think, 'Yeah, this is what I used to love!'. You might even think Scorsese or Coppola have hopped back in the kitchen, but the film still sustains a modern sense of rhythm which makes it equally tasty.

So many things to like about the film. Gosling gives a understated and believable performance as the lead which will surely lead to greater things. LA at night is beautifully captured and the soundtrack choices, set the tone perfectly. What is most successful for me is the balance between tenderness and brutality that the film achieves. It creates an old fashioned feel of romantic realism that adds to the theme of deep longing, and of characters just trying to do right for the sake of doing so. If we had more people (and films) like this in the world, it would be a much better place indeed.