‘You don’t need to know the route. You give me a time and a place. I give you a five minute window. Anything happens in that five minutes and I’m yours. No matter what. Anything happens a minute either side of that and you’re on your own. Do you understand?’ The dialogue perfectly embodies the professionalism of Ryan Gosling’s un-named lead character ‘Driver’ – who is slick, professional and minimal in his words throughout the whole cinema. With the opening shot of the film, we as an audience believe that Driver is precise, meticulous and uncompromisingly slick in a narrative where the director Nicolas Winding Refn has full control. The Driver crawls out in the night as a getaway driver, in the dark streets of Los Angeles. But during the day, he is a mechanic and a Hollywood stunt double – who has a probability of becoming a race car driver. Driver’s crooked employer played charmingly by Bryan Cranston gives him the job which he is amazing in, you guessed it right. Driving! Jean-Luc Godard claimed that all anyone needed to make a film was a girl and a gun. Both narrative take a turn when the girl and the gun arrive in to the narrative. Gosling’s Driver sees a character shift when he moves to a building where his next-door neighbors are Irene (Carey Mulligan) and Benecio (Kaden Leos). The mother and her son bring compassion to the cold-hearted, lonely Driver, for the first time in his life. Driver sees a light of hope through them. Cliff Martinez’s music begs to be acknowledged here. In the montage where Driver, Irene and Benecio connect for the first time, A Real Hero’ plays in the background which ads as the most important catalyst in the story. For the first time in his life Driver feels like an actual hero, an actual human being instead of a criminal, a getaway  Driver and the music `Real Hero’ signifies that. But things do not stay warm and comfortable as Standard (Oscar Isaac) husband of Irene comes out of prison. But he soon lands himself in an ocean of trouble for not being able to pay his debt. Driver decides to help him in order to save Irene and Benecio. After which the action and car chase sequence starts to unfold for the audience. Nicolas Winding efn, like his lead character, is diligent. He crafts characters who are from the less visible dark side of society, but relatable in almost every aspect. His immaculate attention to detail to create the perfect ambience deserves special mention. The neon lighting to synthwave song selections gives the story telling an edge. The Danish filmmaker, who previously helmed films like.

Bronson and Pusher Trilogy, has full control over his shoe-lace budgeted magnum opus and it is visible in every frame of the celluloid. Mr Refn very skillfully manages to marry Art-House cinema with so called ‘Commercial cinema, a combination which is extremely difficult to design and fabricate. Although it is presented as an action genre motion picture it is also so much more. With a ran time of just over 1 hour 40 minutes, Drive deals with a love story, a heist story and a mob drama. The raise-en-scene are arranged methodically, carefully and elaborately, where every element in the frame has a lot to provide in terms of visual story-telling. The range of elements include the scorpion embroidered bomber jacket which is a cape for the Driver who wears it only when he does something important in the movie), to less or no dialogue given to the character. Refn’s attention to detail is stunning. Ardent cinephiles will find this to be a treat. Ryan Gosling gave one of his most measured performances in his entire career, to such an extent that one might accuse him of being ‘Stoic’, but not once does he underperform. As mentioned earlier he is not given much dialogue in the film. He had to express his dilemma through his facial and physical movements. The character Driver is very convoluted, mostly determined and internally vulnerable. Mr Gosling outshines everyone in the film. Carey Mulligan has lot more to do then just being the ‘pretty’ girl. She has to play a character who is a puritan but carefree lover, and she delivers a very memorable performance. As an audience you understand her sadness but she never once victimizes Irene which showcases her control over craft. Albert Brooks played Bernie Rose the main antagonist of the film was menacing. He never had his loud moment of a typical villain but his acting brought with him a sense of urgency and discomfort to the audience. Oscar Isaac deserves a ton of applause for his brief yet pivotal role in the film. The film Drive is not an easy ride. There are speedbumps in form of violence and heart-breaks. But the journey has much to offer -an amazing car chase sequence, great dialogue filled with metaphors, an amazing elevator sequence which showcases the competence of cinematographer Newton Thomas Sigel, extraordinary acting skills of the cast among others. Drive will take you on a long journey where with urgency and calm. This experience of the rush throughout followed by the calmness of the ending will stay with you for a long time. Maybe this is the sole reason it enjoys a cult following even now, 8 years after its initial release.

* The film poster has been collected from Internet source