Ghostbuster

Yeah, to me, the most plausible reason for the Driver's early criminal behavior is thrill-seeking. The auto shop owner said that the Driver couldn't be beat if he were given the opportunity to drive professionally, and he seemed only lukewarm about the prospect. Perhaps he needed a tougher challenge. During a getaway, he may have enjoyed the thrill of the chase, plus the high stakes. Maybe he liked outsmarting and outdriving the officers, too.

PopcornTreeCt

I think the Driver's motivation to be a wheelman was because he was good at it.

boredsilly

I certainly didn't sympathize with him. If anything, when the shit started to go down, I looked at the driver at another bad guy, in a sea of bad guys, doing bad things. I wasn't cheering for him at all. I don't know why, because the plot points of this movie feel like lots of other good-bad guys who live by a certain code and are heroic even while living on the wrong side of the law. Totally different type of movie, but a good example of this is Vin Diesel's character in Fast and the Furious or Jason Statham's Transporter. Those characters seem like decent guys, who just made some bad choices in life.

The Driver seemed like a straight up psychopath to me, who was acting as if he lived a normal life by the skin of his teeth, but once he had an excuse to go all in, he went totally America Psycho on the people he put in his sights.

I really enjoyed the movie, but it definitely was a major curve ball from what I was expecting.

Solid Snake

He was a bad guy doing bad things. But he didn't intend to for Irene and Benecio any harm cuz he cared for them.

Patman

I wanted to like this movie more, but in the end, I just don't have any real affinity to the driver dude (Gosling). Sure, the extended gazing/staring scenes didn't help things, and I never got the idea he really knew what he was getting into when it goes really bad. There are some nice stylistic choices and touches (the whole 70s vibe in terms of tone, cinematography), but having an enigmatic protagonist just didn't work for me.

I give it 2.5 stars, or a grade of C+.

riotinmyskull

do you ever like any movies? i don't seem to recall you ever giving a movie a positive review.

PopcornTreeCt

I didn't see it that way. I saw it that when what he cared about was being threatened he then did what he needed to do to protect them. There was a reason why the director spent so much time showing those scenes of him bonding with Irene and Benicio. It was only when that part of his life was threatened did he go off.

I didn't think he was a psychopath. I just thought he was a bit introverted.

FantasticVSDoom

I think the driver was exactly that, a bad guy. Maybe not a complete psychopath, but definetly a cold blooded killer... The scene when he's watching cartoons with Benecio tells us all we need to know about him, imo. But I think there were a few people in his life he felt the need to protect so although a bad guy, maybe not as bad as the others.

Osiris3657

He's become a bit jaded since he sees every single new release every weekend.

Patman

Perhaps you don't read all the movie threads here, so you missed some of the films I gave a B- and better. Then again, someone else asked the same thing, and I gave them a list of the recent year's worth of films I grade B- or better, so I'm not sure why I'm getting singled out. Was it because I simply refuse to lavish praise on this particular movie? I realize others really liked it, I wish I really liked it, but I didn't.

If I can find that post with the list of movies, I'll edit this post and add the list here as well.

EDIT - oh crap, that was a list of movies I rated C+ or worse. I guess I'll have to dig up some old reviews...

Films from the past 6 months I graded B- or better:
Contagion
The Debt
Warrior
Our Idiot Brother
Glee 3D Concert Film (with caveats)
The Help
The Rise of the Planet of the Apes
Crazy, Stupid, Love
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2
Horrible Bosses
Larry Crowne
Midnight in Paris
The Tree of Life
Kung-Fu Panda 2
Thor
Five Fast
Insidious
Soul Surfer
Scream 4
Atlas Shrugged
Hanna
Cat Run
Source Code
Limitless
Paul
The Lincoln Lawyer

Yeah, I hate movies.

boredsilly

I can see why you came to that conclusion. Not only is that a valid way to view the movie, it is probably what was intended. Yet, I still look at the Driver as a psycho. You would have to be to go to the lengths he did, because he didn't just do what he had to do to protect that which he "loved", he went over board.

Still, I think whenever you can come away from a movie having something to discuss -- that's a good thing.

uteotw

Exactly--all through those slow scenes I could tell it was obviously building towards something.

I loved it: original, great music, great acting, and with a satisfying ending. Best movie I've seen this year for sure, though I know several people who would never have the patience for it...

PopcornTreeCt

I can see it your way too. I agree, I think it's cool that this has generated this much discussion.

Daytripper

Which of those films (if any) rated a B+ or higher? And have you ever given a movie an A+ I've been here for over 10 years and I've never seen you score a movie higher than a B-

Patman

Then you haven't been paying attention. I'll leave it to the gentle reader, should they want to do a search on my user name and keyword "grade" to single out my review postings. But from that short list, I probably gave Kung-Fu Panda 2 got an A-, with a few getting a B, but most are B- films(meaning I enjoyed it, but would suggest seeing it at matinee prices). A film has to really kick butt to get an A out of me, I know I gave The Dark Knight an A-, but upped it to an A after seeing it on IMAX. I think Avatar was also an A- (if not simply for the immersive 3D environment which enhanced the world in which the story unfolded in). But most films fall in the B/C level unless it's dreck, which gets D/F grades. It's like a bell curve, where the quality level is mainly in the B/C range, but the great films are few and far between on the high side of the quality scale. I do account for its genre at times. Not every film aspires to be great (due to $ or talent deficiencies), but at least appealing to its targetted audience.

nickdawgy

I liked this movie so much I'd consider seeing it in the theatre again, and that's a rarity for me. I am still dumbfounded at my father-in-law and his friend saying it was awful.

They were upset they didn't go see that Matt Damon movie instead and also they want to see Colombiana

The Bus

Both Colombiana and Contagion are good movies. Different, to be sure, but they are not scum of the earth. And Drive isn't the second coming of the European genre film. Although you might believe it in the first sequence. It also helps that this (along with Hanna) is one of the best scored movies of the last few years. "Tick of the Clock" over that opening sequence is just superb.

PopcornTreeCt

If anyone is interested there's some good discussion on the Criterion Forum.

riotinmyskull

this movie has stuck with me pretty well since seeing it saturday. can't stop listening to the soundtrack and i watched BULLITT on sunday and right now i'm watching POINT BLANK.

Solid Snake

oh I dunno about that..but...it's very romantic film...if that makes any sense. Felt like if Michael Mann went "artsy" i guess. It just felt like a very romanticized look at the crime world. Once the intro credits started rolling and the footage we got from it..that's what I felt. A romantic and loving view of a genre. I went w/ a girl to see it today. She didn't like it, too violent for her. Though she does love Gosling, as most young pretty girls do from what I see. It took her a while but she understood what I meant that it was a violent but very romantic view. How far does one go for what you love? To preserve it? you know?

Patman

Just to set the record straight, from the past 3 years or so of films, these garnered grades of B+ or higher (of course, I doubt if many will agree with a few of the film grades, but no one has to agree all the time):

Grade A
The Dark Knight
No Country For Old Men

Grade A-
Kung-Fu Panda 2
True Grit
Black Swan
The Social Network
Avatar
The Wrestler
Frost/Nixon
Gran Torino
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Slumdog Millionaire
The Kite Runner
Superbad
Stardust
Talk to Me
Hairspray

Grade B+
The Hurt Locker
Up!
Star Trek
Revolutionary Road
The Reader
Milk
Bolt
Forgetting Sarah Marshall
The Bank Job
The Diving Bell and the Bell Jar
There Will Be Blood
Enchanted
Gone Baby Gone
Across the Universe
Eastern Promises
The Bourne Ultimatum
Waitress
Zodiac

Gunde

^ You don't have to justify your opinions man.
Just like you don't have to love 'Drive'.

nickdawgy

They saw Hanna, too.

boredsilly

And different. I don't like different for different sake, but it really is refreshing when you see something that goes against a lot of the tropes you're used to in a movie. The electro-pop music, the "girly" font with pink letters, the really slow and deliberate scenes, all the of the quiet beats the movie let breath.

Drive was the anti-music video movie.

Mittman

Patman -- has ANYTHING ever gotten the elusive A+?