Seth Lamey
Many genre films are accused of weighing style over substance. Some films are guilty of this, but few truly strike the balance of combining each element into a singular cinematic experience. Producers Marc Platt and Adam Siegel confronted this while adapting the 2005 James Sallis novel Drive, with screenwriter Hossein Amini penning the adaptation. The key production hires were its star and who the star would choose as director. Ryan Gosling was making a name for himself in the 2000s with dramas The Notebook and Half Nelson, earning him praise as a dramatic actor. He was chosen to lead the film as its quiet but powerful protagonist, “The Driver,” and Gosling wanted the film to separate itself from American action films of the time. Choosing Danish indie/art house director Nicholas Winding Refn proved inspired, blending homages to American crime films and the aesthetics of the 1970s and 1980s with modern European filmmaking sensibilities. The impact of their uber-stylized action-drama Drive is still felt 15 years later during its anniversary month.
Drive focuses on the unnamed protagonist, The Driver (Gosling), a mechanic and Hollywood stunt driver by day and getaway driver for crimes by night. That description nearly fits the logline for a superhero film; no accident, as this soft-spoken anti-hero channels a dark side that occasionally gets unleashed in violent ways on worse people than himself. He is grounded by his friends, fellow mechanic Shannon (Bryan Cranston) and friendly neighbor turned love interest Irene (Carey Mulligan), along with her son Benicio (Kaden Leos). When Irene’s husband, Standard (Oscar Isaac), is released from prison and needs to hold up a pawn shop, a botched heist puts them all in danger with some heavy L.A. gangsters. The film sets up its universe with this simple crime-drama plot, allowing its characters to breathe through good performances and stylized filmmaking in its direction, production design, and execution.
Gosling anchors the whole film, being in nearly every scene. His strong, silent archetype invokes Steve McQueen from Bullitt and Clint Eastwood’s work in Westerns and Dirty Harry. While quiet and reserved, it doesn’t harden his character for the audience, but rather softens him— that is, until some dark rage takes over when he needs to protect people close to him. Gosling fits this character like the driving gloves he wears, with steely looks in the rear-view mirror and a toothpick in his mouth. He wears a scorpion jacket, solidifying his dangerous demeanor when needed and offering a throwback style choice to enhance his faux-superhero status. From the opening credits, when we see Drive hit the screen in pink scripting (influenced by Risky Business) and a 1980s synth-pop score from Cliff Martinez kicks in, the audience knows this will be a different car-chase action film than a typical Michael Bay project or entry in The Fast and the Furious franchise. Blending strong performances with style would be the key to success for the genre film.
Refn and Gosling worked well together as a director/lead actor duo, even collaborating on the edit together to get the beats right for the exact film they were aspiring to make. Drive creates a grounded universe in L.A., and it’s in the driver-heavy action sequences that it has its pop among heavy-hitting violent crime dramas. The opening scene takes place at night, showcasing the neon glow of downtown L.A. during a heist getaway sequence. The Kavinsky & Lovefoxx track, “Knightcall”, plays over b-roll footage of the town in the credits following a tense driving scene by Gosling’s The Driver. Refn and cinematographer Newton Thomas Sigel took care to maintain Refn’s preference for wide-angle shooting and a lack of hand-held camera work and CGI. Low-angle shots of The Driver in his car tower up the screen, and the editing coverage blend of front-mounted Steadicam shots gives Drive a professional and unique digital cinematography.
One of the highlight scenes is at the L.A. river with The Driver, Irene, and her son Benicio, showing off a sunny L.A. glow set to the College track “A Real Hero.” Refn and Gosling choose almost a music video vibe at times with their style choices during heavy emotional scenes with driving. Other highlights include the getaway during the million-dollar heist with The Driver in a Ford Mustang vs. a Chrysler 300, and a romance scene in the elevator followed by abrupt violence. The Driver confronts a henchman at a strip club, and Refn has the strippers in the scene freeze in their seats as he nearly hammers a bullet into the man’s head. It is in the filmmaking that Refn lets all the emotions of the characters and story explode in ways both good and bad. Refn and his cinematographer often use a noir style staple of high-key lighting to show low light and dominant shadows. The elevator sequence employs slow-motion during the editing to slow time for the characters after they embrace with a kiss. Irene sees The Driver as a friend and protector, and after losing her husband, she feels vulnerable. He enjoys the affection and comfort, but after stopping a would-be assassin, he can’t contain the rage he unleashes on a man trying to undo that newfound comfort and love he has found. Like a scorpion, he attacks and destroys him; Irene sees what darkness he holds inside. This is their final moments in the film, before The Driver confronts Nino and Bernie to settle the score, attempting to keep Irene and Benicio safe through his grizzly sacrifice.
Serving as the main antagonists against the “good” characters in the film are Nino (Ron Perlman) and Bernie (Albert Brooks). Both men front as business owners but aspire to crimes in the shadows and find themselves intertwined with The Driver after a botched double-crossing during a million-dollar heist. Brooks plays against type as Bernie— who is a foul-mouthed and brutal when he needs to be—gangster who will kill anyone he needs to tie up loose ends. Brooks made his name as a filmmaker and actor in the 1980s, and his contributions as the main villain in Drive make the film sizzle with dark humor. Ron Perlman as his ambitious and sleezy underling Nino carries over his heft from the Hellboy films of the 2000s. Pearlman was also giving a good performance on TV at the time with Sons of Anarchy, and Cranston as Shannon was also inspired by his great work at the time on Breaking Bad.
While some influences for the film have been mentioned, there are more to bring to light. Michael Mann’s films Thief and Heat certainly lend some of their visual cues and crime-drama feel to this film, as does Walter Hill’s film The Driver. Using a filmmaker with a background in modern European style but taste in post-modern American film gives Drive its unique feel. Cliff Martinez crafted an 80s-inspired synth-pop score to give the film propulsion and a fun momentum throughout. The original soundtrack climbed to the top 5 in the charts on iTunes upon release, a feat for any soundtrack not from a franchise film. Drive was lauded by critics and cheered at film festivals, garnering a 10-minute standing ovation at the Cannes Film Festival, where Refn also won for Best Director. Word spread among the cinematic community about the indie/crime drama/action film, and its $15 million budget earned $80 million at the box office when it gained a semi-wide September 2011 release. The sound editing was nominated at the Academy Awards. Drive was admired for its acting performances, neo-noir style from director Nicholas Winding Refn, and cool/moody score by Cliff Martinez.
Even though it was a success at the time, Drive still has a cult following who dig it for what it was and what it proved about genre blending. Its use of style as substance proved that auteur filmmakers can filter their filmmaking language to create art that is inspired by the past and set a template for the future of filmmaking. The film took Gosling into a new realm of possibilities as an action movie star, eventually gaining him star roles in hits like Barbie and Project Hail Mary. Carey Mulligan and Oscar Isaac both have gained very respective careers in Hollywood since 2011, and their memorable performances in Drive cleared the path. While Cranston and Pearlman have not seen the same heights they did around 2011 as TV actors, their work, along with Albert Brooks, is vital to the character dynamics in Drive.
Refn and Gosling teamed up again in 2013 for Only God Forgives, another project about a brooding protagonist with hyper violence and style, but it wasn’t nearly the same success as Drive. Refn also has indie-experimental films The Neon Demon and Her Private Hell in his filmography since, but nothing compared to the pop-cultural relevance of Drive. The 2011 film proved to be the best balancing act for his European auteur cinematic language, which started early with the Pusher trilogy, Tom Hardy vehicle Bronson, and stylish period drama Valhalla Rising. Setting a modern L.A. heist movie around a budding star who had a hand in production decisions was a brilliant move for the film, with strong performances anchoring the minimalist plot between its stylish action sequences. Carefully calculated and energetic cinematography combined with the vibrant Martinez score helped make Drive one of the cultural pinpoint films of genre filmmaking in the 2010s. Gosling and Refn both reaped the benefits of that artistic success in the moment and moving forward.
