Yes, No, Maybe So: Drive
Monday, July 25, 2011 at 12:00PM Robert (of Distant Relatives) here with the lastest Yes, No, Maybe So. Even those well versed in the films of Nicolas Winding Refn may have been surprised when his latest film Drive, starring Ryan Gosling as a Hollywood stunt driver by day/getaway car driver for hire by night and Carey Mulligan as his love interest, was announced as part of the lineup for Cannes 2011. It premiered as one of the break out hits of the festival, and Refn took home the Best Director prize. Since then it's been hype, excitement, anticipation and endless tals of Refn/Gosling man-love. For those of us who didn't catch it on The Croisette, we're finally getting our first look.
I admit, I count myself among those who'll see just about anything with Gosling in it. But the supporing cast is equally intriguing, Mulligan, Christina Hendricks, Brian Cranston, and Albert Brooks whose buzzy villainous turn isn't even played up here. In fact there's something refereshingly sincere about this trailer, in a world where action movies are either for kids (or at least made to appeal to the widest possible PG-13 demographic) or ironically self-aware in a Machete, Shoot 'em Up kind of way that loves winking at you over their intentional B-picture status. No one here is mugging or pandering. At least not that I can tell.
Of course, I'm not sure that the Gosling fanbase and the gritty action movie fanbase are one in the same. I admit that I have mixed feelings about the genre and aren't even sure if I'm looking foward to this as a lark or with the excitement of something that could really be among the best films of the year. If the film didn't star Gosling, or the rest of that cast, or didn't have all the Cannes hype behind it, would I be as excited? Then again toss in enough hypotheticals and you're left with "if this film didn't have the elements that made it this film, i'm not sure I'd want to see this film," no kidding.
Really though, any personal reservations I can muster up are minor. I find myself squarely in the "yes" category for this. The trailer does a good job of solidifying it as a tough-as-nails action film with some staple archetypes and high cinematic style while maintaining plenty of mystery. It's a good tease. And then there's Gosling. Has anyone perfected the good boy charm/bad boy intensity like he has? Can we declare this "The Year of the Goz?" Maybe not yet, but he certainly seems at home as an action character.
Have you been anticipating this since Cannes? How important is the presence of Gosling? How much has the trailer affected the hype? Are you up for a good thriller?
Drive, Ryan Gosling, Yes No Maybe So
Reader Comments (16)
Ryan Gosling and Andrew Garfield are my favourite actors right now!
It doesn't hurt that they are not only super talented, but super sexy as well....:)
Hell yes for me! Not many movies I'm looking forward to more than this for the rest of the year.
If Ides of March turns out to be a dud, Ryan Gosling will STILL be getting a lead actor nomination this year.
I'm glad you brought up the "Year of the Goz." I sincerely think that this is going to be an exceptional year for him with Crazy, Stupid, Love, The Ides of March, and Drive. In one year he shows more depth than many actors do during their whole career. The thing that drives me absolutely batshit crazy is that there is a VERY GOOD chance that he won't be nominated for an Oscar despite the fact that he will (probably) deserve it and have a good year not only critically but also at the box office.
Yes, Yes, Yes, Yes, Yes, Yes and again Yes!!!
Have you been anticipating this since Cannes?
Oh yeah... Cannes has a lot of cinematic status that's undeniable and I can't forget Refn won the best director award of the festival, so it's a must see movie right now!
How important is the presence of Gosling?
Gosling's presence may be the substance of the movie. He's an extremely charismatic actor and his huge talent just make me sick in the good way. I would say this year is Gosling's year due to his diversity of projects (a romantic-comedy, a political drama and an action-thriller-drama) that show his huge rage and maybe estabilish him as one of the most versatile actors working today. Gosling is just fun to watch, because you only realize he's Ryan Gosling in the end of the credits.
How much has the trailer affected the hype? Are you up for a good thriller?
The trailer showed exactly what I was expecting from the movie. Most antecipated movie's trailer usually disappoint, but Drive is an exception, at least for me. In fact, the trailer showed some juicy characters, specially Albert Brook's and Gosling's, which make this thriller even more interesting... and that kiss in the elevator followed by a fight seems awesome!
"If the film didn't star Gosling, or the rest of that cast, or didn't have all the Cannes hype behind it, would I be as excited? Then again toss in enough hypotheticals and you're left with "if this film didn't have the elements that made it this film, i'm not sure I'd want to see this film," no kidding."
Robert, I hear you on that. This looks like the sort of film that, if I saw the trailer on a DVD, I'd shrug and jump to the feature film. Not my cup of tea (and I admit the testosteron-fueled violence that's inferred/shown is definitely not my thing,)
But yes, there is Gosling (Mulligan is doing nothing for me here, just one more bland "girlfriend" role from what little we see; Kendricks looks to have the more interesting role and performance in comparison, but that may be misleading. I hope it is.)
Most importantly, there's Brooks going outside of his usual range as a villian (although he voiced one very efficiently on The Simpsons Movie.) THAT is what caught my attention, because it's so outside his "usual" role and yet it seems so terrifically right.
OMG the supporting cast is great. This definitely just earned a high spot on my 2011 must list.
YES.
Don't forget to count Blue Valentine in the "Year of the Goz." For most people, that film came out earlier this year!
As for Drive, I'm an enthusiastic YES.
As far as I am concerned Gosling, Joseph-Gordon Levitt and Meryl Streep could read the telephone book and make it mesmerizing.
big YES even if the movie is very very graphic and violent and seems a copycat of Michael Mann movie THIEF(on my dad's opinion)
The only thing that's not plausible in that trailer is Carey Mulligan's character dating someone who went to jail, or that I never saw the hype about her as an actress at all. But otherwise, YES!
Paolo, you need to saw her in stage. She's marvelous in THrought a Glass Darkly. Also, in her next film Shame, many reviews said she could surprise us...
For the trailer, YES YES YES YES YES:
1. Ryan Gosling
2. Albert Brooks
3. Nicols Winding Refn
4. As supporters Hendricks, Cranston and Isaac
That's all I need
What Mirko said. YES!!!!
Um, I think a HELL YES would be in order from me. I'm on board the Goz Love Train for sure. And how sexy does this movie look? That sunset lighting, the glossiness and that already-looking-good direction. Plus, I'm *dying* to see what Christina Hendricks can do on the big screen. This looks like it could be very juicy for her.