Drive

Drive was a movie that had been a critical darling way before it even hit the theaters. I checked this out opening weekend of its wide release and it was filled with middle aged couples who had absolutely no idea of what they were walking into. This movie is a love story wrapped in a significant amount of ultra-violence. Seriously, if you have a weak stomach, some of the sequences will more than likely get you sick.

This is really the movie that will get everyone to be a fan of Ryan Gosling, both men and women. His performance in this movie is great. The direction is fantastic and the supporting cast could rival that of any movie I have seen in a long time. The main character in this movie is a very intimidating individual, he barely speaks and when he does it really means something. He seems to constantly be listening and evaluating the given situation that he is in and that is one of his biggest assets. He seems to be ready for anything that can be thrown his way and when something does go wrong he has the ability to get out of it. I am not going to spoil anything about the plot at all because that would not be fair.

I will say that I love Christina Hendricks and if you see this movie you'll know why (she is smoking hot). I love that they cast actors that you wouldn't think would be in this type of movie such as Albert Brooks, Bryan Cranston, Carey Mulligan, and Christina Hendricks. They are all as close to perfect as you can get in each of their roles. Brooks is the revelation of the group because he plays a character so far out of what everyone expects him to play and he plays his character perfectly. To tell you the truth when I first saw his character in the trailers for this movie, I thought it was a different actor because I never considered that he would be in a serious movie.

Nicholas Winding Refn did an amazing job with the direction of this movie, he knows how to build tension masterfully and then have scenes that blow that tension up with a spectacular display of ultra-violence or an awesome chase scene. If you ever get the time, watch his two other critically acclaimed movies Bronson and Valhalla Rising. Bronson introduced audiences to Tom Hardy and Valhalla Rising was just an incredible movie (at least in my eyes). He has essentially started a new genre that could only be described as "Art House Action" and it works wonderfully. For people thinking that this movie is all action, I apologize because there is a lot of setup in this movie and there are only 4 or 5 true action set pieces. So be warned, take the slow with the fast because if you actually take the time and absorb this movie I guarantee you will love it.

 The soundtrack also really fits the movie and every scene seems to be narrated by the song playing and it really helps the narrative and the action flow smoothly. It has a synth-80s feel to it that is great and anyone who likes pop music from the 80s will instantly love the soundtrack. I have the soundtrack on my phone and it is played at a pretty decent clip and that is the sign of a good soundtrack, play ability even though the movie is over.

This movie sits in my Top 10 movies of All-Time and it doesn't seem like it is going to fall from that spot anytime soon. If you want to see a movie that is suspenseful, has great acting, and some great action then go see this movie. If not, then I feel sorry for you.