DRIVE (Nicolas Winding Refn)
Refn is a filmmaker who has style, but he bored me to death with VALHALLA RISING. I was willing to give him a second chance. So I watched DRIVE. It's one film you can readily consider a midnight movie, (not particularly referencing to the 'midnight movie' phenomena) because it is perfect for a midnight watch, like if you have a lineup of films to see, DRIVE would be the main event. Ryan Gosling is breathtaking to watch in a very tense and controlled performance of a stunt driver moonlighting as a getaway vehicle driver. He gets in the crosshairs of the mob and a beautiful young mother (Carey Mulligan), where the angelic, humble simpleton transforms into a crusader of righteousness. DRIVE has as its central character the quintessential innocent man pitted against the grand scheme of things, and affairs that are not really his; his biggest mistake is that he cared for another human being/s. Any Coen Brothers film would have this element, yet filmmaker Nicolas Winding Refn...