Drive (*****)

A man, a woman, a bag of money, and a crime gone wrong. Like so many heist films in the past, "Drive" doesn't stray too far from the normal. At the same time, it does something most films can only dream of succeeding: crafting a story so spellbinding that every moment feels important in and of itself. Every frame is carefully choreographed. Every line masterfully delivered. In terms of genre, this is a defining work in modern cinema.

For a film so simply titled, you will find few moments of actual 'driving,' and in fact, the film is only lightly sprinkled with scenes of our Driver (the unnamed character played by Ryan Gosling) actually operating any form of vehicle. As a profession, he works as a stunt driver in film. At night, he takes on the seedy underbelly of Los Angeles, working as a successful getaway driver for various heists and cons. Shannon (Bryan Cranston), his boss and colleague, supplies him with various means of transportation and income.

He gets to know his neighbors, a young and beautiful Irene (Carey Mulligan), and her son, whose dad is in prison for a variety of crimes. Perhaps the Driver is falling in love, or perhaps the innocence of a mother and daughter reminds him of simpler times. With so few actual lines of dialogue, it's sometimes difficult to interpret what the Driver is thinking. In a role so filled with physical extremes, it's almost unsettling to have a protagonist that is so unchanged from start to finish.

As the driver begins one business venture (entering the world of speed car racing), he finds himself in a situation in which a crime goes awry, where nothing goes according to plan, a moment where this film could definitely mark the spot where "all Hell breaks loose." The Driver is essentially pitted against the crime world he has come to know all too well, and a wave of death and destruction flows through to the very climax of the film.

The film juggles various themes and ideas, and all silhouetted against a nearly David Lynch-type 1980's retrospective. While cars are modern, the very senses of the film (from costume to soundtrack) come to evoke a decade of filmmaking gone by, and the Director (Nicolas Winding Refn) masterfully crafts a film that is so unique in and of itself. Justly winning the Directing prize at the Cannes Film Festival, his snub by the Academy is all the more tragic and alarming.

This is not a film for everyone, and in fact its bubble-gum visual style and graphic violence is sure to polarize its viewers. There is so much more to realize in this film, and repeated viewings have only strengthened my appreciation for this gem of a movie (and caused me to rewrite an entire review for it, no doubt). This was my favorite movie of 2011, and remains so nearly 3 years later.

Shame on the Academy for such unruly snubs across the board...

*indicates an actual nomination received from the Academy

(Awards potential: Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor (Gosling), Best Supporting Actor (Brooks), Best Supporting Actress (Mulligan), Best Original Screenplay, Best Editing, Best Cinematography, Best Art Direction, Best Sound Mixing, *Best Sound Editing)