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Message
re: Drive (2011)
Posted on 5/21/12 at 9:33 pm to Superior Pariah
Posted on 5/21/12 at 9:33 pm to Superior Pariah
I finally saw it.
I felt it was a short film extended to a full length movie. Forget the lack of dialogue, there's a lack of action. Not much really happens, and it's a remarkably straight forward plot for such a beloved art movie.
But here's my biggest problem -- I didn't buy it. I didn't care about any characters, and I never bought that Gosling (and here's another point, I never learned any characters name and only thought of them as the actor -- always a bad sign) would risk so much for such a bland, uninteresting girl. And the ending makes no sense whatsoever.
The movie had some terrific set pieces, especially the major chase scene, but they took a long time to get there, and I never felt the stakes. Frankly, I rooted for Albert Brooks, who was the only semi-interesting character.
And great lighting. I really mean that. Seriously impressive composition.
I felt it was a short film extended to a full length movie. Forget the lack of dialogue, there's a lack of action. Not much really happens, and it's a remarkably straight forward plot for such a beloved art movie.
But here's my biggest problem -- I didn't buy it. I didn't care about any characters, and I never bought that Gosling (and here's another point, I never learned any characters name and only thought of them as the actor -- always a bad sign) would risk so much for such a bland, uninteresting girl. And the ending makes no sense whatsoever.
The movie had some terrific set pieces, especially the major chase scene, but they took a long time to get there, and I never felt the stakes. Frankly, I rooted for Albert Brooks, who was the only semi-interesting character.
And great lighting. I really mean that. Seriously impressive composition.
4
Posted on 5/21/12 at 10:30 pm to Baloo
B, I am disappoint.
Posted on 5/21/12 at 10:41 pm to Baloo
quote:
And the ending makes no sense whatsoever.
The ending reminded me of Two Lane Blacktop where the main characters drive until the film burns out. Driving was their existential role like Driver's (that's the characters name). He lives to drive.
quote:
and here's another point, I never learned any characters name
Once again, this is an homage to the road movies of the 70s
This post was edited on 5/21/12 at 10:46 pm
Posted on 5/21/12 at 10:42 pm to Baloo
I totally bought him falling for the bland girl. He's a restless person who's found his niche but at the same time he's trapped in it. The bland girl with the kid allowed him to be content and happy in the moment.
I think it's telling after the first job (in the opening) he drives around for a bit, comes home and looks at his empty apartment and walks right back out. I've done that. I get the feeling.
Maybe she was something he never consider. He fell in-love with someone else's life, and he cared about something more than himself.
As far as the ending, it made complete sense. Before he goes outside, Albert Brook's character tells him he can't offer protection for him, so you can assume that someone is going to be looking for Gosling even though Albert Brook's is dead. If he loved the girl, what other choice did he have but to leave?
I think it's telling after the first job (in the opening) he drives around for a bit, comes home and looks at his empty apartment and walks right back out. I've done that. I get the feeling.
Maybe she was something he never consider. He fell in-love with someone else's life, and he cared about something more than himself.
As far as the ending, it made complete sense. Before he goes outside, Albert Brook's character tells him he can't offer protection for him, so you can assume that someone is going to be looking for Gosling even though Albert Brook's is dead. If he loved the girl, what other choice did he have but to leave?
This post was edited on 5/21/12 at 10:44 pm
Posted on 5/21/12 at 10:53 pm to Superior Pariah
No, I got the final shot. It's the scene right before that doesn't withstand any sort of scrutiny. It doesn't make sense.
Great. It's an homage. An homage can still have characters strong enough that they seem like more than vehicles for some neat set pieces. I get that it's an homage, the film practically explicit tells you its an homage, but that doesn't make up for its narrative shortcomings.
Great. It's an homage. An homage can still have characters strong enough that they seem like more than vehicles for some neat set pieces. I get that it's an homage, the film practically explicit tells you its an homage, but that doesn't make up for its narrative shortcomings.
Posted on 5/22/12 at 12:30 am to Baloo
quote:
I felt it was a short film extended to a full length movie. Forget the lack of dialogue, there's a lack of action. Not much really happens, and it's a remarkably straight forward plot for such a beloved art movie.
But here's my biggest problem -- I didn't buy it. I didn't care about any characters, and I never bought that Gosling (and here's another point, I never learned any characters name and only thought of them as the actor -- always a bad sign) would risk so much for such a bland, uninteresting girl. And the ending makes no sense whatsoever.
I agree with this. I watched it and just felt unimpressed. I just don't get the overwhelming love and praise for this movie. Kinda how I felt about Rango.
Posted on 5/22/12 at 1:05 am to Enigma
quote:
I just don't get the overwhelming love and praise for this movie.
Probably has as much to do with the complete shite I've come to expect from hollywood. When a film is mildly intriguing or surpasses my cynical expectations, I'm elated....
Posted on 5/22/12 at 2:00 am to DriveByBBQ
Finally watched it, nothing like I expected it to be. A little on the stranger side but I enjoyed it.
Posted on 5/22/12 at 7:33 am to Patrick O Rly
Here’s what I hate about the ending (SPOILERS, obviously)
First, I don’t believe Albert Brooks get stabbed. He told Gosling point blank he was about to kill him, and then he’s suddenly unprepared when he fights back? I don’t buy that for a second. Or that Gosling’s plan was to wait to get stabbed and then have his magic knife appear and stab Brooks with it.
Anyway, the only person who knows about Gosling is Brooks. He’s not going to tell the East Coast family he ripped them off, so once Gosling kills him, there is no mobster looking for Gosling. Take the frickin’ money. But let’s assume there is a mobster who knows about gosling. A) He wouldn’t know about his deal with Brooks about the girl AND B) it’s not like a bag of million dollars isn’t going to be picked up by a third party… so he never paid off the mobsters. Leaving the money behind makes no logical sense, regardless of your read on the situation.
And let’s not get into the fact how easy it will be for the cops to find and arrest him for 5 or 6 murders. He left a trail of evidence even Barney Fife could follow. He needs to be worried about the cops first. So, to recap – he leaves the money, fails to protect the girl by doing so, and is going to jail. None of these major plot points are addressed, and instead we get a faux “ambiguous” ending. The only thing ambiguous is whether the east coast mafia decide to kill the girl, which they likely will. After all, the guy who ripped off the million dollars is her husband, and there’s a dead gangster in her elevator. Methinks they are gonna show up on her doorstep, and there is no protection deal because Brooks is dead and the money never got delivered. Portraying the final sequence as some noble sacrifice is a lie and a cheat. It bothered the crap out of me.
First, I don’t believe Albert Brooks get stabbed. He told Gosling point blank he was about to kill him, and then he’s suddenly unprepared when he fights back? I don’t buy that for a second. Or that Gosling’s plan was to wait to get stabbed and then have his magic knife appear and stab Brooks with it.
Anyway, the only person who knows about Gosling is Brooks. He’s not going to tell the East Coast family he ripped them off, so once Gosling kills him, there is no mobster looking for Gosling. Take the frickin’ money. But let’s assume there is a mobster who knows about gosling. A) He wouldn’t know about his deal with Brooks about the girl AND B) it’s not like a bag of million dollars isn’t going to be picked up by a third party… so he never paid off the mobsters. Leaving the money behind makes no logical sense, regardless of your read on the situation.
And let’s not get into the fact how easy it will be for the cops to find and arrest him for 5 or 6 murders. He left a trail of evidence even Barney Fife could follow. He needs to be worried about the cops first. So, to recap – he leaves the money, fails to protect the girl by doing so, and is going to jail. None of these major plot points are addressed, and instead we get a faux “ambiguous” ending. The only thing ambiguous is whether the east coast mafia decide to kill the girl, which they likely will. After all, the guy who ripped off the million dollars is her husband, and there’s a dead gangster in her elevator. Methinks they are gonna show up on her doorstep, and there is no protection deal because Brooks is dead and the money never got delivered. Portraying the final sequence as some noble sacrifice is a lie and a cheat. It bothered the crap out of me.
Posted on 5/22/12 at 7:46 am to Patrick O Rly
quote:
I think it's telling after the first job (in the opening) he drives around for a bit, comes home and looks at his empty apartment and walks right back out. I've done that. I get the feeling.
The first scene is also telling because the robbers get caught. He leaves them holding the loot in a crowded garage, surrounded by cops. Sure, he gets away which is to show his badassery, but it also demonstrates he’s not as great of a wheelman as the movie posits. The whole point of a getaway car is to get away. If you’re a crime boss, would you hire this guy, based upon that scene?
That scene actually demonstrates both the movie’s flaws and strengths. It’s a great action sequence, and incredibly tense. There’s little dialogue, and seemingly unimportant details become very important. The director brilliantly uses sound and light. He also glosses over the fact the entire enterprise is a failure. The point of the scene is to show how great Gosling is, yet it shows the opposite. Any inconvenient fact is just forgotten by the director, and he hopes the audience forgets it too.
Posted on 5/22/12 at 7:51 am to Baloo
Baloo has made me sad :(
If you're going to nitpick on THOSE "plot holes", I don't see how you can enjoy ANY type of movie that has murders, heists, etc
If you're going to nitpick on THOSE "plot holes", I don't see how you can enjoy ANY type of movie that has murders, heists, etc
Posted on 5/22/12 at 7:55 am to Pilot Tiger
That's not a small detail. The entire point of the film was to protect the girl, and he utterly fails to account for the biggest threat. Albert Brooks and Ron Pearlman "have" to kill Gosling because of how ruthless the East coast family is, and they just magically disappear once Brooks is dead. You don't think they will be marginally curious what happened to their money? And all roads lead to the girl. Her husband robbed the pawn shop. One of Pearlman's men then went to her apartment and ends up dead. The clues don't lead the mob to Gosling, they lead directly to her.
It's just incredibly sloppy writing, especially for a movie where barely anything happens. This could have been addressed.
It's just incredibly sloppy writing, especially for a movie where barely anything happens. This could have been addressed.
Posted on 5/22/12 at 7:57 am to Baloo
The stabbing scene is a little weird, but I have a theory that the only way Gosling figured he could get close enough to Brooks to stab was to get stabbed first. Of course it could just be a dramatic/artsy scene with no logic involved.
As far as the money, why wouldn't the east coast mob be able to find him or know that he existed? You said yourself that he left a trail for the cops that "even Barney Fife could follow." Gosling didn't kill all of those strippers in the strip club, and he's a former employee for a car garage in which the owner was just killed.
As far as the money, why wouldn't the east coast mob be able to find him or know that he existed? You said yourself that he left a trail for the cops that "even Barney Fife could follow." Gosling didn't kill all of those strippers in the strip club, and he's a former employee for a car garage in which the owner was just killed.
Posted on 5/22/12 at 8:00 am to Patrick O Rly
Which is why he needs the million dollars to give to them. Leaving it behind makes no narrative sense. He lost his only chit, and entirely by choice for no gain. It makes no sense.
Posted on 5/22/12 at 8:03 am to Baloo
quote:
Baloo
Breaking hearts all over the world.
Posted on 5/22/12 at 8:09 am to Baloo
I think he would be dead either way. I don't think the money was gonna help him because they would still kill him even if he tried to return it. He had to figure that after Brooks stabbed him and from the talk in the restaurant before. So in my view, the best way to protect her was to go as far away as possible.
Posted on 5/22/12 at 8:11 am to Baloo
quote:
Which is why he needs the million dollars to give to them. Leaving it behind makes no narrative sense. He lost his only chit, and entirely by choice for no gain. It makes no sense.
I was assuming that when Brooks made the comment about "us and the girl" being the only ones left, that they were the only ones who knew about the husband, driver, perlman, brooks, etc. That everyone else was literally dead. The ONLY thing left was the money.
This post was edited on 5/22/12 at 8:16 am
Posted on 5/22/12 at 8:13 am to Patrick O Rly
quote:
The stabbing scene is a little weird, but I have a theory that the only way Gosling figured he could get close enough to Brooks to stab was to get stabbed first
Or he could have just shot him.
Posted on 5/22/12 at 8:13 am to Freauxzen
quote:that's what I assumed.
I was assuming that when Brooks made the comment about "us and the girl" being the only ones left
It was obviously in Bernie's best interest to clean up any and all trails, so maybe in the end it really is just he, the girl, and the driver
Posted on 5/22/12 at 8:14 am to Freauxzen
But that's not true, even from what we've seen. The cops know about the girl. There's a dead gangster in her elevator. And her husband is the guy who ripped them off. It's not evenly remotely plausible the mob won't pay her a visit. From their perspective, she has the money.
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