Tuesday, September 20, 2011

Seen: "Drive"

I saw the movie "drive" last night.

It was described as a crime thriller and had %92 rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

Actually it was the review on Rotten Tomatoes that really convinced me to go see it:

A hyper-stylized blend of striking imagery and violence, Drive represents a fully realized vision of arthouse action.
The violence could be described as overboard, but I think it was central to the viewer's understanding of the characters involved. It was key to producing an emotional reaction that helped me relate to the characters.

One of the interesting aspects to me was the main character's seemingly endless reservoir of calm. When things start spiraling out of control, that's when you see the talent of the lead actor in convincingly letting emotion spill through the calm demeanor established earlier in the film.

The tagline for the picture was "there are no clean getaways." It's definitely true of walking out of the theater afterwards. The last 20 - 30 minutes were so intense, I felt my nerves rattled as well.

I was enjoyed the casting because I haven't seen the main characters in other films before. The main character was played by Ryan Gosling. It's interesting he doesn't actually have a name in the film, in fact, Gosling is credited as "Driver" on IMDB.com.

I recognized one of the main characters was played by Bryan Cranston from "Malcom in the Middle," a TV show that's been off the air for some time. Makes me wonder about how actors find work between jobs. The character was "Shannon" and was a good fit for Cranston.

Earlier in the week I'd seen "Contagion" which I enjoyed.

From the previews, "Premium Rush" looks to be pretty interesting. Maybe it's just because I like bikes.