The best film I saw in 2011

Poster by James White - Signalnoise

I've rambled on about Drive in various bits and bobs but felt like I should still write something about it here. There were loads of great posters for this movie but I particularly liked the one above as it gives a hint of the 80's feel that the film has.

This felt like a film that kind of came out of nowhere for me, I first read about it in the weekly Odeon film e-mail that I get and I pretty much dismissed it from its description - though the warning of extreme violence kind of went against the fairly generic sounding plot. A colleague at work recommended it highly however (he has had the main poster as his desktop since it came out) and after watching the Half in the Bag review I decided I should definitely get to see it. However, a couple of weeks consideration is a long time in non-blockbuster terms, so it was of course no longer being shown by Odeon. Thankfully I have access to a great independent theatre, the Tyneside Cinema, which was still showing it at this point.

As plenty of people have pointed out, this isn't really the most complex film in the world but what makes it stand out is how it is filmed and its overall sense of style. While it is visually and musically very 80's inspired, the whole feel of it reminds me more of some of my favourite 70's movies where they aren't afraid to take things at a slow pace sometimes. But when it comes to action the tension in some scenes is incredible, which is something that's very hard to describe or show in an isolated youtube clip. So if you measure it purely by the amount of driving action scenes I could understand you might be disappointed but the driving scenes that are there are very unique and gripping in their own way. The violence in it is brutal, quick and feels incredibly shocking,  which is I think how you are meant to feel, rather than aiming to please avid gore fans.

It really isn't very often that a film draws me in so completely and has me thinking about it for such a long time afterwards. Just in terms of characters it manages to make them interesting despite them not directly talking about themselves that much. The driver in particular leaves you with plenty to think about in terms of how he got to this point in his life and what will happen afterwards. So much is suggested by subtle actions, like how his hand shakes in one scene where he is really in over his head. I posted on Google+ ages ago about one song that is used twice in the film and how it feels like it serves a different purpose each time you hear it, which I think shows that the soundtrack is not just part of the film's style but can give another level of insight to the characters.

This isn't to say that all of the characters are of the strong silent type, Bryan Cranston is great as the driver's mechanic/manager and is probably the most fun and well meaning character in the film. I also liked Oscar Isaac as Irene's husband, who turns out to be a much better man than you would expect when you first hear that he is in prison at the start of the film. I wouldn't say there are any particularly bad performances, Ron Perlman is his usual self but still works for me, even the kid isn't bad.

Clearly it's not a film for everyone, though I have been surprised at the contrasting opinions it has received - I don't think you will find anyone who thought it was merely okay. While I can appreciate some people's issues I think it's worth finding out which camp you fall into and hopefully you can appreciate it on some level. I can't wait to watch it again on Blu-ray but I may well be watching it alone...