Drive | Teen Ink

Drive

January 24, 2019
By MovieReviewer_18 ELITE, Short Hills, New Jersey
MovieReviewer_18 ELITE, Short Hills, New Jersey
678 articles 0 photos 8 comments

 Drive is a thriller about a get-away driver. The movie revolves around a mysterious man who is a stunt driver for movies by day and a getaway driver at night. He is highly skilled at what he does and excels best when he's behind a wheel. Although he does his best to remain cold and emotionless on the outside, he starts to open up to his next door neighbor, Irene. Irene is a young mother with a  son, and she has to raise him all by herself until her husband's jail time is up. The driver soon starts to develop feelings for both the mom and the child, so when the husband gets out of jail and needs a driver, the husband gets the help he needs from an experienced source. Even though the driver isn't keen on it, after watching the mother's husband get beat by two mysterious men, he knows what he needs to do. The driver ends up working with the husband and some other sketchy folks in an attempt to accomplish a one-million dollar heist, but when betrayal spurs, the driver must do his best to protect the ones he's learned to love, as well as himself, but he might not be able to accomplish both. 

 Because of the description of Drive, the actual concept behind it, and the trailer, most people would probably assume that this driving movie is going to be an adventurous, action-packed film. However, they could not be more wrong. Even though the plot of the movie sounds like it is going to be a fast-paced, intense car movie, in reality, the movie is surprisingly slow. As in, it's remarkably slow to the point that it almost becomes painful for some at certain moments. Although the movie is pretty well done, for some, the slowness will definitely be a negative trait.

 With that in mind, Drive is still able to have its fair share of high points. The beginning of the movie brilliantly sets the stage for the rest of the film. However, it's really the middle portion of the movie that brings down the film, since it seems like it doesn't really serve that much of a purpose, because the movie is moving so slowly. Because of the way the movie relies on only one concept, the movie would most likely be able to be closer to just a mere 40 minutes in length and still be enjoyable. But this is not the case. Instead, the movie is more than double that time and feels very stretched out at certain times. Although it can be argued that this was just a method to increase the drama, suspense, and intensity of the movie, this isn't really that successful. Even though parts of the middle aren't the greatest, things begin to get better as the movie gets closer to concluding. Towards the end, things start to really pick up and that's mostly because the action increases, which creates a much more pleasing pace that is able to keep audiences engaged and on the edges of their seats. In fact, the end gets really violent, intense, and way more exciting. The actual ending of the movie is really great and ends things superbly, which does help to save the movie from being dragged down even further from the slowness of certain parts. 

 Drive also greatly benefits from having some tremendous performances from its talented cast. Ryan Gosling in particular is able to transform into his role and is really able to capture the whole complex character by trying to appear to be harsh on the outside. He is definitely a highlight of the movie, and fans of his will definitely be pleased with him as the protagonist of the film. 

 Although Drive is certainly not a good fit for some audiences, it does seem like a good majority of viewers liked the movie, and critics also seemed to be satisfied. Rotten Tomatoes gave the movie an impressive 92%, and IMDb gave the movie a very solid 7.8/10, which is actually much better than it seems. An outstanding 90% of Google users liked the movie, which is actually quite the exceptional score. 

 All things considered, Drive is a pretty good movie that is worth seeing, but knowing that this movie is slow is absolutely key. 


The author's comments:

"If I drive for you, 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." - Driver


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