I am sorry to say this, but this movie and me didn't work at all. Don't get me wrong, the acting is superb -- and although I've never understood the hype around Ryan Gosling as a "womaniser" (yep, I've got a number of friends who would faint at his feet) he really knows his stuff.
Some reviewers complain about there not being enough dialogue and/or acting on Gosling's part to call it "acting" in the first place, but I have to disagree. I see where the director/producer was going with Gosling's character -- the mysterious, gentle man of few words who cares deeply, but who can turn into a lethal weapon in an instant if he has to.
I actually like the slow pacing and the sudden turn from calm and quiet to fast paced and violent.. usually. Some of my favourite movies share those qualities.
But here? I gotta say that I was utterly bored throughout the whole film. And believe me I tried. I even gave it a 2nd chance thinking that when I last watched it a year or so ago I simply might not have been in the right mood for this. But sadly no.
Contrary to some reviews here that claim this to have more depth than your average action flick I've got to admit: I don't see it. Sure the "driver's" character has mysteriousness going for him - starting with him having no name - but seriously, that's hardly new. I really can't understand what's supposed to be that original (in this "time and age", so to speak - considering the fact that this is deliberately recreating the style of some 60s-70s movies back in the day...) or crafty about this film. This has all the ingredients of today's average action film, only with fewer words, slower pacing and no explosions. Which isn't a bad thing - quite the opposite actually. I sure can appreciate the one or other explosion or shoot out scene the action genre usually seems to be so fond of, but to be honest most action movies use those scenes way too generously. Most of the time it seems that they want too distract from shallow script/plot more than anything else... And no, I didn't miss those particular action scenes here at all, as those wouldn't have made the plot more interesting or captivating. I can't really point my finger on what exactly made this so painfully boring for me, but my point being that it was.
Well, sorry. This wasn't for me. I've seen better.
Some reviewers complain about there not being enough dialogue and/or acting on Gosling's part to call it "acting" in the first place, but I have to disagree. I see where the director/producer was going with Gosling's character -- the mysterious, gentle man of few words who cares deeply, but who can turn into a lethal weapon in an instant if he has to.
I actually like the slow pacing and the sudden turn from calm and quiet to fast paced and violent.. usually. Some of my favourite movies share those qualities.
But here? I gotta say that I was utterly bored throughout the whole film. And believe me I tried. I even gave it a 2nd chance thinking that when I last watched it a year or so ago I simply might not have been in the right mood for this. But sadly no.
Contrary to some reviews here that claim this to have more depth than your average action flick I've got to admit: I don't see it. Sure the "driver's" character has mysteriousness going for him - starting with him having no name - but seriously, that's hardly new. I really can't understand what's supposed to be that original (in this "time and age", so to speak - considering the fact that this is deliberately recreating the style of some 60s-70s movies back in the day...) or crafty about this film. This has all the ingredients of today's average action film, only with fewer words, slower pacing and no explosions. Which isn't a bad thing - quite the opposite actually. I sure can appreciate the one or other explosion or shoot out scene the action genre usually seems to be so fond of, but to be honest most action movies use those scenes way too generously. Most of the time it seems that they want too distract from shallow script/plot more than anything else... And no, I didn't miss those particular action scenes here at all, as those wouldn't have made the plot more interesting or captivating. I can't really point my finger on what exactly made this so painfully boring for me, but my point being that it was.
Well, sorry. This wasn't for me. I've seen better.