Ryan Gosling’s latest movie, “Drive”, is a traditional criminal-with-a-heart-of-gold caught in some trouble and tries to escape by clearing his name. The plot line has lots of dead ends that lead nowhere (the entire plot line around Gosling’s character’s driving abilities evaporates like water in the desert sun) but regardless, the movie keeps your attention by what it doesn’t do more than what it does.
What it doesn’t do is dialogue. There’s very little talking. Its the “don’t say, show” philosophy taken to extremes. At some points you ache for someone to something. Anything. And yet they don’t. Which in the end sort of works.
Gosling complements his summer comedy movie (Crazy Stupid Love) with this action gangster flick. It won’t go far in the history books but it will open whatever doors might have been closed off to him. Romantic, drama, comedy. He can now claim to own them all.
The summer of 2011 will prove to be the summer Gosling took center stage in Hollywood.
3 stars.
About Me
I'm a professional engineer working in the software industry based currently out of Toronto, Canada. If I'm not writing code, you might find me on the hockey rink or reading the NY Times over coffee.
I have recently started to plan a trip around the world with my wife, Susana, putting my software development career on hold while I grow and learn in other ways beyond the keyboard. 