Author Topic: Drive  (Read 13626 times)

B_Buster

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Drive
« on: January 17, 2012, 01:41:12 PM »
The most ridiculous movie I've seen since The Gauntlet. Was it meant to be a comedy? Discuss.

 My favorite scene: when he offers the kid a toothpick.
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crumbum

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Re: Drive
« Reply #1 on: January 17, 2012, 03:03:30 PM »
Refn is good at building suspense though montage (like with the opening sequence and the bit in the pawn shop parking lot) and coming up with occasional cool images like the weird stunt mask. He seems to be pretty bad at almost everything else.

wood and iron

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Re: Drive
« Reply #2 on: January 17, 2012, 04:58:11 PM »
Refn is good at building suspense though montage (like with the opening sequence and the bit in the pawn shop parking lot) and coming up with occasional cool images like the weird stunt mask. He seems to be pretty bad at almost everything else.

The Pusher movies are some of the best crime movies ever, in my estimation. So Refn has that going for him. I liked Drive and Bronson a ton. Valhalla Rising was boring.

thom

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Re: Drive
« Reply #3 on: January 17, 2012, 05:10:35 PM »
Hands down my fav in a long long time.

The best bit is obviously when Brooks slices Cranston but the mask and the slo-mo Perllaugh are also fantastic.

A damned funny movie. I was giddy the whole time.

On a serious note: the sparse/stark/minimalist whatever is completely justified in the offering and acknowledgement of that glass of tap water. Nice touch, Refn.

His other two movies are fucking awful, so I'm assuming he doesn't know what he's doing and it's just a fluke. In interviews he keeps referring to Drive as a fairy tale. UMM.

wood and iron

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Re: Drive
« Reply #4 on: January 17, 2012, 05:12:01 PM »
Hands down my fav in a long long time.

The best bit is obviously when Brooks slices Cranston but the mask and the slo-mo Perllaugh are also fantastic.

A damned funny movie. I was giddy the whole time.

On a serious note: the sparse/stark/minimalist whatever is completely justified in the offering and acknowledgement of that glass of tap water. Nice touch, Refn.

His other two movies are fucking awful, so I'm assuming he doesn't know what he's doing and it's just a fluke. In interviews he keeps referring to Drive as a fairy tale. UMM.

He has more than two movies, I'm telling you people!

thom

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Re: Drive
« Reply #5 on: January 17, 2012, 05:16:23 PM »
He has more than two movies, I'm telling you people!

SO HE DOES. Thanks bub--I'll check 'em!

David

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Re: Drive
« Reply #6 on: January 18, 2012, 12:40:15 PM »
It kind of reminded me of Taxi Driver. There's a song at the end of the movie (I loved the soundtrack and now own it) called "A Real Hero" that says "You have proved to be a real human being and a real hero," and I think it's sort of song ironically. Or maybe it's what Gosling's character imagines what Carey Mulligan thinks about him.

He's like Travis Bickle in that he's pretending to be the kind of human he thinks he should be. He's such a weird character, like an alien, throughout the movie, so it makes sense that he'd try to mimic the actions of a hero. Even wearing an ill-fitting (and hilariously creepy) mask of the hero in a movie fits in with this theme.

So I really liked the movie.

B_Buster

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Re: Drive
« Reply #7 on: January 18, 2012, 12:54:51 PM »
He's weird to me because he's an undeveloped character. That's just bad writing. In Taxi Driver, over the course of the movie, you understand how the character has become disconnected from other people.
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David

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Re: Drive
« Reply #8 on: January 18, 2012, 02:23:28 PM »
I think Drive purposely spared down any unnecessary dialogue or character development because it's trying to make it clear the black-and-white worldview the Driver has. He's the hero saving the damsel in distress (in his mind). And without the internal narration, we're not privy to his motives, but we don't need to be. He's a blank slate, a guy who only knows how to drive. That's his identity. If this were going for any trace of realism, it failed, but I think it's more of a fable.

Taxi Driver takes place in a recognizable New York City. It's Scorsese's vision of NYC. Drive is a glossy, unspecific view of Los Angeles. It's similar to Taxi Driver in that the leads are both delusional anti-heros (but Drive is a bit more ambiguous with the audience about the Driver's mental illness). Other than that, they have very different motives and means of telling their stories.

But if it didn't work for you, it didn't work.

thom

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Re: Drive
« Reply #9 on: January 18, 2012, 03:05:42 PM »
An underdeveloped character is not always "bad writing".

Sometimes movies need to be about cardboard people doing pretty things for vague or uninteresting reasons. Sometimes movies need to be ABOUT film techniques.

Many films under those two categories are big budget shitshows. But they often fail by assuming the viewer identifies or cares about its characters.

Drive succeeds because it doesn't care that you don't.

buffcoat

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Re: Drive
« Reply #10 on: January 18, 2012, 04:10:48 PM »
Are you addressing me?  Are you addressing *me*?
I really don't appreciate your sarcastic, anti-comedy tone, Bro!

B_Buster

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Re: Drive
« Reply #11 on: January 18, 2012, 07:55:39 PM »
Now that I know that Drive didn't care if I liked it, I feel much better about hating it. Thanks, thom.
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Chris L

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Re: Drive
« Reply #12 on: January 18, 2012, 09:36:15 PM »
I really can't understand why Brooks got such raves for this movie, other than the novelty of Albert Brooks playing a murderous psycho. I thought Cranston did more with his much less flashy role.

Rick in Salt Lake

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Re: Drive
« Reply #13 on: January 18, 2012, 11:02:18 PM »
My favorite scene: when he offers the kid a toothpick.

Mine as well. I was the only person in the theater that busted up at that. I was also the only one who busted up when Ron Perlman blurted out "now that is one fine ass pussy mobile!"
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B_Buster

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Re: Drive
« Reply #14 on: January 18, 2012, 11:12:46 PM »
I really can't understand why Brooks got such raves for this movie, other than the novelty of Albert Brooks playing a murderous psycho. I thought Cranston did more with his much less flashy role.

I suspect it had something to do with the fact that he was able to keep a straight face long enough to get through it.
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