Last weekend I saw Drive, a movie about a Hollywood stunt performer who moonlights as a wheelman discovers that a contract has been put on him after a heist gone wrong. Plus an awesome soundtrack. While this film might not break box office records, it is one that everyone is going to talk about. After a film such as this is released, life follows art and certain trends start to emerge. I thought I would beat everyone to the punch and share them:
Lo-fi disco electro in action movies
The soundtrack is fantastic. During dramatic moments where “the driver” is contemplating whether to smash someone’s head in, it’s not the heavy, aggressive music we expect. These dramatic moments where action has to be taken is an internal struggle. The music allowed us to better imagine “the driver’s” psyche as he goes from a good guy wanderer to the instigator of chaos. Check out my favorite track, the one that end the film, College feat. Electric Youth “A Real Hero.”
Style over story
This is not a bad thing. “The cinema is not an art which films life: the cinema is something between art and life. Unlike painting and literature, the cinema both gives to life and takes from it, and I try to render this concept in my films. Literature and painting both exist as art from the very start; the cinema doesn’t.” Jean-Luc Godard
What’s your sign?
This will be the new opening line in bars around Williamsburg for a few months, along with racing jackets depicting your astrological sign and wearing your occupation on your sleeve (increase in mechanic jumpsuits will be sold). I just wonder if it should have been incorporated into the story whether “the driver’s” jacket was custom-made or thrifted.
Supporting commerce abroad by supporting your local bodega.
My friend Jess, who was born in Venezuela, jumped for joy when there was a shot of Irene (played by Carey Mulligan) in her kitchen and there was Venezuelan flour on the shelf. No more Trader Joe’s, buy your Spanish Rice from a bodega owner who speaks Spanish.
Toothpicks
Big in the South, underutilized in NYC. “The driver” doesn’t smoke, which I found ironic since most anti-heroes of past films always did. Was there concern about showing a beloved actor like Ryan Gosling smoking? Is this move considered postmodern?
Casting Directors Being Postmodern
The casting of Christina Hendricks, Ryan Gosling, and Carey Mulligan brings this actors to a role that is a huge departure from their previous work. Are their roles all the more shocking because of how we have previously seen them?
- Christina Hendrix, the confident bombshell from Mad Men, is now a victim of a botched robbery as Blanche.
- Ryan Gosling, infamous for The Notebook, kisses Carey Mulligan and proceeds to stomp in a guy’s head – all in the same elevator.
- Carey Mulligan, an innocent in An Education, now a mother who was knocked-up at 17 by her husband now in prison.
Genre remix
This movie brings the best of anti-hero films, 80’s highway films, and French New Wave.
Reimagining Los Angeles
Everyone I spoke with about the film talks about how beautiful the lights of Los Angeles looked as “the driver” drives two robbers away from a crime scene.
That’s all I got – what do you think?
My Name Is Reb 
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