Sep 16, 2011

BP Film Review: Drive

 -Image from movieweb.com

Film Review By Christian Salinas

IMDB Plot Summery
A Hollywood stunt performer who moonlights as a wheelman discovers that a contract has been put on him after a heist gone wrong.

Expectations…
From the trailers, the TV Spots, the concept, even the title itself, I was expecting this to be a fast-paced action film, filled with cool cars, and chase sequences… I was wrong.

Entertainment Value…
The film itself is very slow to develop. The chase sequences that ARE in the film (not many) are brief, and relatively uneventful. All fight sequences, and action scenes, much like the chase sequences, are also brief with very little choreography.

Overall…
Despite it’s lack of entertainment value, I don’t consider this a bad film. There are a lot of things I like about it. First of all, it features a Ryan Gosling we haven’t seen before. The film also spends a lot of time introducing us to the main characters, (maybe too much time). There are a lot of genuine surprises in both the plot, and the decisions characters make that keep the movie interesting. The action sequences aren’t just a fireworks show, but are legitimate consequences to decisions made, and are never out of tone with the movie. Something I also appreciated was the absence of  “cool” holding-the-gun-sideways action, the violence featured takes its proper place, it’s ugly, real, and not at all glorified. With all that however, I did walk out of the theater a little disappointed, as I’m sure so did everyone else. I just don’t see who this movie is for. It seems to have made every effort possible to sell itself as a serious version of “Fast and Furious”, and I’m sure that’s exactly what people will be expecting when they buy their movie tickets, but that’s not at all what they are going to get, and for that same reason, audiences that might appreciate some of the above mentioned elements will not at all be attracted to this film.

The Good…
The film is well directed. It introduces us to an interesting Ryan Gosling we haven’t seen before, and features some pretty interesting scenes.

The Not So Good…
This film is not what it claims to be, it is slow paced, and it lacks all the action and car chase sequences that it “promises” its target audience.

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