I’m volunteering at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) this year and one of perks that Volunteer’s receive is a Reward Voucher for every volunteer shift completed. The voucher can be used as a ticket to a regular public screening and can also be used to watch films (on a rush basis) at a Premium screening Gala as well as at a Press & Industry screening.
I’ve been dying to watch Drive ever since TIFF announced that it was on the list of films being shown this year. So when I received my first volunteer coupon, I made sure that it was the first film that I would see.
Since Drive is one the most anticipated films of the year and is on every critics’ list of top picks, I decided to try and watch the film at the Press and Industry gala (one day before the public screening) so that my chances of seeing it would be much higher. I arrived at the Scotiabank Theatre 30 minutes before the scheduled screening time and I joined the rush line where there was already at least thirty people waiting in front of me. At this point, I’d already come to the conclusion that there was no way I’d get in but I stayed in the line and much to my surprise, 10 minutes before the start of the film, I was allowed in the theatre along with the 30 people that were in front of me.
So on to the review:
I absolutely loved Drive from start to finish. The film has a modern day film noir feel to it and the plot along with the 80’s inspired electro-pop soundtrack makes me imagine what Grand Theft Auto would look like if it was brought alive on the big screen.
Ryan Gosling plays the role of a Hollywood stunt performer who moonlights as a getaway driver for criminals at night. He discovers that a contract has been put on him after a heist goes wrong and what follows is one and half hours of great action sequences, thrilling car chases, superb visuals and a great accompanying soundtrack.
Gosling plays his character to the hilt and gives a convincing performance. His character is strong, silent and soft spoken but also has a dark and foreboding personality and a violent streak that lurks beneath the cool and quiet persona. His character is quite refreshing in a world where the majority of leading males in action movies tend to be loud mouthed and muscle-bound. Gosling’s quiet character is the antithesis of this and shows that not all action stars need to fit the Vin Diesel or Gerard Butler mould.
I was a little bit disappointed though with Carey Mulligan’s mousy performance as Irene, the lead character’s love interest. Her character lacked emotional depth and range and I found her performance a little bit stilted and wooden. In spite of this, Gosling and Mulligan have great on screen chemistry and their interaction adds a little bit of balance in between the fast paced action scenes and gruesome and bloody violence. If you’re squeamish, you might want to look away during some of the violent scenes in the film as it does get pretty bloody (especially during the elevator and motel scenes).
On the whole, Drive is a riveting movie from start to finish. The ending is a little bit anti-climatic but other than that, the film has enough suspense, drama and action to keep you entertained for 100 minutes.
Note: My review might be a little bit biased and influenced by the fact that I bumped into Ryan Gosling a few days later at the TIFF Bell Lightbox and I was impressed by how humble and down to earth he is.
