I Will Now Drive Myself to a Conclusion About "Drive"

Lovies,

I seriously should be going to bed instead of writing this post, but it's getting to the point past which things I wanted to say will permanently leave my brain if I don't get this show on the road.

So: "Drive" (2011).

You confuse me.

I saw this movie with several friends and colleagues as a part of my birthday celebrations last month.  While originally I had wanted to see "Contagion" (2011), it was decided by group consensus that that particular selection might be a bit of a downer. 

 That was possibly accurate.

Encouraged by a Jezebel article in which Ryan Gosling had claimed that his latest project was supposed to be "Pretty in Pink with a head smashing", we decided to see "Drive" instead.  I mean, who wouldn't want to see "Pretty in Pink" (1986) with a light dusting of violence??  Being an epic fan of "Ferris Bueller's Day Off" (1986) and "The Breakfast Club" (1985)--because if you don't like those movies, seriously, you're dead inside--it seemed like a great bet.

Fast forward 100 minutes, and I suddenly had no idea what had happened to me.  I staggered out of the theater with my friends, feeling a bit shell-shocked and bewildered.

It is.  So.  Violent!

Had I seen this movie poster, I might have had
a more accurate impression of the movie
going in.  The hammer is a bad sign.

But that's not a good enough reason to write off the movie.  I've definitely seen movies gory enough to make me cover my eyes that were nevertheless masterful and worth seeing.  How can I resist, for example, citing my oft-lauded favorite gore fest, "28 Days Later"? 

In spite of being a lover of nonviolence, I recognize that violence has its place in film.  I was finally fully convinced of this while listening to an interview with David Cronenberg and Viggo Mortensen about their 2007 release "Eastern Promises".  The movie is extremely violent, and in fact, Cronenberg went to extensive lengths to make the violence feel real in order to facilitate the audience's empathy for his characters.  In service of this aim, Cronenberg set up the camera during the violent scenes in the movie such that you couldn't look away from the violence.  As a result, the violence hurts, creating a visceral reaction in the viewer, because it should--because violence is ugly and horrifying. 

That didn't happen in "Drive".  There were definitely some charmingly realistic acoustic tricks thrown in to make sure you knew someone's face just got stomped in, but the violence was so random, senseless, and so extreme as to not seem plausible in the real world.  It's desensitizing, achieving exactly the opposite effect of the violence in "Eastern Promises".  That, I would argue, is pretty troubling.

But nevertheless, so many people like this movie!  Two of the three commentators on a podcast I enjoy and trust insisted that the movie was worth seeing.  It has a 93% rating on RottenTomatoes, for Christsakes! 

Okay so it's really violent.  But a good plot can make that okay, right?

See.... I don't know that the plot is helping this movie, either.  Because, well... there isn't one, really.  I mean there are events that happen, and there are characters that interact in seemingly significant ways, but it all feels flimsy and again, implausible.

I'll explain: The basic premise is that Ryan Gosling's character, who is pointedly left without a name, is like the best driver EVER.  We know next to nothing about him, and he's incredibly emotionally flat so he doesn't have much of a personality per se, but Bryan Cranston's character says that seriously guys he's the BEST DRIVER.  Except we barely see him do much of it.  Minor oversight. 

I mean it's not like the word "drive" features prominently in the movie's title or anything.

Don't be fooled: Fancy driving gloves do not = fancy driver.

Gosling meets his next door neighbor, played by Carey Mulligan, and apparently gets insanely attached to her and her young son after only hanging out with them for like four and a half hours. 

 
This also feels weirdly unbelievable.  I mean, I don't mean to be a jerk, but...

...her?

One of the aforementioned podcast commentators actually compared Mulligan to Molly Ringwald, trying to explain the whole Ryan-Gosling-said-this-movie-was-John-Hughes-y thing.  The problem with that theory is that Molly Ringwald has spunk, and like... a personality!  Carey Mulligan definitely has neither of those things in this movie.

I'm sure she's a perfectly nice woman and a talented actor.

ANYWAY, so Gosling is all Borderline-I-get-super-into-people-way-too-easily-God-knows-why.  So when (spoiler alert) Mulligan's husband gets gunned down in a botched pawn shop robbery and some scary dudes threaten her son, Gosling decides to save the day.  Cue the insane violence!!

Really, the major problem I have with this movie is the lack of backstory.  Outside the theater, my classmates and I tried desperately to diagnose Gosling's character with a mental illness of some kind.  Clearly, we reasoned, there was something really wrong with that guy, because there's no way a normal human being would behave the way he did.  But there isn't even a clear diagnostic category to shove him into.  I simply haven't been able to figure out a way that his character makes sense to me, given the very scant information I have about him.  And that annoys me.  I know I've already copped to being perhaps overly into characters and not that swayed by plot, but that's just how I am.

In the interest of fairness, there were definitely some great things about this movie.  The soundtrack is really cool, and Bryan Cranston is spectacular.  That man knows how to transform himself for a role.  He's remarkable.  And I really want to like Ryan Gosling!  I'm under the impression he's immensely skilled, and let's face it, he's pretty.  Every actor, even really accomplished ones, have projects that are less successful.  Maybe this is just one of them.

What I think my confusion over "Drive" comes down to is misinformed expectations.  This film got amazing critical reviews and was compared to some movies I really enjoy.  And it included an actress I'm dying to see more of, given that I'm almost out of Mad Men episodes: Christina Hendricks.  In actuality, the movie's plot and character felt flat and unbelievable.  I would stridently argue that it takes more than hot pink scrawly credits text and synth-y music to make a movie seem like it deserves to stand among the ranks of Ferris Bueller and "The Breakfast Club".  And the final insult?

I can haz mor Joan?

They totally underutilized Christina Hendricks.  Maybe that's the real reason I just can't get behind this movie.

So sorry, critics, but I'm just not convinced.  I'm giving "Drive" a 1.

Bedtime!

<3

Joyeux Octobre!

Hi guys,

There is a small but nevertheless present possibility that I am finally acclimating to my insane schedule, which is really great. 

It's been a bit of a challenge, in part because of the whole getting-up-early-doesn't-really-work-for-me thing, and also the getting-home-late-every-night-when-I-have-to-get-up-early-the-next-day-which-did-I-mention-really-doesn't-work-for-me? thing. 

HOWEVER.  With the occasional carry-out meal, learning to force myself to be in bed by midnight (ugh so early, what am I, a child??), and napping on my epic-length subway commute, I have (kind of) managed to get into a routine that still includes a daily dose of Don Draper (alliteration!).

Crucial.

I *also* somehow, I don't even really know how, managed to watch some more movies last month.  I'm kind of amazed, frankly.  But here they are!

46. The Debt (3.5)
47. The Help (3)
48. Drive (??)
49. Last Days (4)

...You may notice my atypical notation for entry #48.  That is because I seriously don't even fucking know what I thought of "Drive" (2011).  BUT!  This presents an opportunity to write a post about it, in which I will decide how much I hated but maybe also loved it.

Are we perhaps noticing a trend?

Anyway.  One hobby that definitely suffers when you have too much real work to do is that you don't get enough dick-around-on-the-internet time.  I know that probably doesn't sound overly important to mental health, but apparently it kind of is. 

Why, you might ask? 

Because: I feel like almost every other moment of my life right now is overly purpose-driven.  I am working, trying to attend to critical needs (e.g., eating, sleeping, Mad Men) as efficiently as possible, trying to keep my apartment from becoming an abyss of uncompleted housework, or criminally neglecting my communication with the outside world, all the time.  Sometimes, a little aimlessness is really what you need to wind down.

So.... The post on "Drive" will have to wait, because right now, even just writing a blog post is a little too accomplishmenty for me.

'Til then.

<3