Drive - A Lynchian Taxi Driver? So I’m taking a quick break from working on Brothers right now. So why not do a quick analysis of Drive? Yes, this is how exciting my life is turning out. A bunch of us went to see Drive at Nighthawk last night. Aside from a couple of questionable stylistic choices chosen by Refn (ie. why do you love pink so much?), Drive was a really refreshing and unpredictable film that kept everyone at the edge of their seats. I’ve been looking for articles that called out Drive and Taxi Driver on the interwebs, but I’m really surprised that no one has made that comparison yet. I can’t say that Drive is a direct iteration of Scorsese’s Taxi Driver, but there are certainly many similarities between the main characters. BTW, I wouldn’t read any further if you plan on seeing the film soon. The Driver and Travis Bickle both have dark pasts that make it difficult for them to communicate with the rest of the world. Yet, they have a very strong sense of what is right and wrong, and will do anything in their power to defend their beliefs - ANYTHING. Both of them enter a path of no return once they discover someone (and perhaps in a deeper sense - SOMETHING) that they need to protect. The biggest difference between the structure of these two films is that the audience goes along for the ride in Travis Bickle’s transformation as a rogue defender, while the Driver’s actions come as a surprise each and every time. The transformation is in the audience, and not in the character. In fact, each reveal about the Driver is extremely stylized and reminds me a lot of Blue Velvet. Drive starts out as a pretty typical Ryan Gosling movie, as he wins over Carrie Mulligan with his dark, handsome demeanor, just as he did in The Notebook, and Blue Valentine. Do you want to say something Ryan? SHHHHH….. let your eyes do the talking. And while the XX part of me would be perfectly content with just that, Drive slowly unfolds into a pretty surrealist mob plot. Extreme violence, heavy sound design and extended slow-motion scenes are plenty. If you’ve watched other Refn films before, you’d know that he’s not aiming for realism (I highly recommend watching Bronson btw). Like I said, there were a couple of elements that really threw me off the film - I would say mainly the writing. I do however, applaud Drive for providing a unique film viewing experience - and for casting Ryan Gosling. BTW, if you guys know anything about Nighthawk Cinema, one cool thing is that they serve food along with the movie. However, I really wouldn’t recommend eating and watching Drive at the same time.

Drive - A Lynchian Taxi Driver?

So I’m taking a quick break from working on Brothers right now. So why not do a quick analysis of Drive? Yes, this is how exciting my life is turning out. A bunch of us went to see Drive at Nighthawk last night. Aside from a couple of questionable stylistic choices chosen by Refn (ie. why do you love pink so much?), Drive was a really refreshing and unpredictable film that kept everyone at the edge of their seats. I’ve been looking for articles that called out Drive and Taxi Driver on the interwebs, but I’m really surprised that no one has made that comparison yet. I can’t say that Drive is a direct iteration of Scorsese’s Taxi Driver, but there are certainly many similarities between the main characters. BTW, I wouldn’t read any further if you plan on seeing the film soon.

The Driver and Travis Bickle both have dark pasts that make it difficult for them to communicate with the rest of the world. Yet, they have a very strong sense of what is right and wrong, and will do anything in their power to defend their beliefs - ANYTHING. Both of them enter a path of no return once they discover someone (and perhaps in a deeper sense - SOMETHING) that they need to protect. The biggest difference between the structure of these two films is that the audience goes along for the ride in Travis Bickle’s transformation as a rogue defender, while the Driver’s actions come as a surprise each and every time. The transformation is in the audience, and not in the character.

In fact, each reveal about the Driver is extremely stylized and reminds me a lot of Blue Velvet. Drive starts out as a pretty typical Ryan Gosling movie, as he wins over Carrie Mulligan with his dark, handsome demeanor, just as he did in The Notebook, and Blue Valentine. Do you want to say something Ryan? SHHHHH….. let your eyes do the talking. And while the XX part of me would be perfectly content with just that, Drive slowly unfolds into a pretty surrealist mob plot. Extreme violence, heavy sound design and extended slow-motion scenes are plenty. If you’ve watched other Refn films before, you’d know that he’s not aiming for realism (I highly recommend watching Bronson btw). Like I said, there were a couple of elements that really threw me off the film - I would say mainly the writing. I do however, applaud Drive for providing a unique film viewing experience - and for casting Ryan Gosling.

BTW, if you guys know anything about Nighthawk Cinema, one cool thing is that they serve food along with the movie. However, I really wouldn’t recommend eating and watching Drive at the same time.