Drive One Thrilling Commute

Drive

The rumbling started early in the theatre, at first it was just a few snide comments here and there. By the time the credits started to role the crumbling had reached its crescendo when one viewer yelled out “this is one of the worst movies I have ever seen.” While each person is entitled to their own opinion, it was clear that the majority of the audience was anticipating a completely different film than what they got. The marketing campaign is trying to sell Drive as a film that is in the same vein as The Transporter series, when in fact it is a far slicker film noir that does not mainly rely on “fist of fury” to advance the plot.

Ryan Gosling continues his string of stirring performances as an unnamed man, referred to as “Driver”, who has an unbelievable talent when it comes to cars. Working as both a mechanic and a part-time film stunt-driver, Driver tends to keep to himself. He barely talks to his boss Shannon (Bryan Cranston). This all changes when Driver meets and falls for his next door neighbour Irene (Carey Mulligan), a single mother whose husband Standard (Oscar Isaac) is unexpectedly released from prison early. Standard owes money to some men who are threatening to harm Irene and his son Benicio (Kaden Leos), if he does not agree to rob a pawn shop. Fearing for Irene and Benicio’s safety, Driver volunteers to be Standard’s getaway driver. What Driver does not know is that the money they are about to steal belongs to local gangsters Bernie (Albert Brooks) and Nino (Ron Perlman).

Drive is very reminiscent of the action thrillers that the likes of Michael Mann and Brian De Palma use to make in the 80’s. Nicolas Winding Refn infuses the picture with his unique style which allows the film to separate itself from contemporary action films. One thing audiences will notice immediately is how little dialogue is spoken by the protagonist. While Albert Brooks and Ron Perlman play their scenes large, Gosling is always internalizing his emotions. There are numerous scenes in which Refn lets the camera quietly linger on Driver’s face as the character works things out. Having an action film that is filled with more quite moments than heart stopping action is almost unheard of in an age where action films are usually filled with loud explosions.

This is not to say that Drive is devoid of action, in fact the film has several great action scenes. The major difference here is that scenes of violence flourish as a result of the silence that often precedes it. Like most of Refn’s films the violence is brutal and unflinching, but never reaches the point of being gratuitous. Refn also keeps the action leaning towards the more realistic side of things. There is no scene where Driver is in a shootout with eight guys at once, nor is there a scene where Driver is jumping out of a building just before it explodes. The final action sequence may seem underwhelming to those expecting a standard action film ending, yet in the context of the world that Refn has created, the sequence works extremely well.

Refn is meticulous with how he orchestrates both his action scenes as well as his quieter moments. In one tense elevator scene, Driver slowly moves the unaware Irene behind him for safety. The use of lighting in this scene is brilliant. Refn first darkens the elevator to accentuate the pending violence, but then brightens the light on Irene to symbolize her character’s awakening. In the span of a few minutes Irene shares a romantic moment with Driver and also realizes his tendency towards violence. It is moments like these that make Drive such a thrill to watch.

Ryan Gosling Wiki & Photos

Ryan Thomas Gosling was born November 12, 1980 is a Canadian actor, musician, social activist and producer. Gosling began performing at age 12 on the American variety television show The Mickey Mouse Club. At the age of 17, the role that Sean Gosling in the short-lived Canadian television show Breaker High.Aside act, Gosling with Chef Ben Benameur and Chris Angulo opened a Moroccan restaurant called Tagine in Beverly Hills, California. Also Gosling formed the band Dead Man's Bones with his friend Zach Shields. They released their debut album in October 2009.

Gosling was cast member on the hit series The Mickey Mouse Club, along with other stars, Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera, Justin Timberlake, JC Chasez and Keri Russell. He was part of the last set of new Mouseketeers to quit the show before it ended its run. He sang, danced and acted on the show.

Gosling is also scheduled to star in George Clooney-directed film version of Beau Willimon's award-winning play, Farragut North, now known as The Ides of March. Sony Pictures Entertainment have seen the Ides of March for a release date of October 14 The 2011th Recently Gosling has again turned together with director Derek Cianfrance for the film the Place Beyond the Pines and director Nicolas Winding Refn to shoot a remake of Logan's Run, which will be distributed by Warner Brothers.

O Canada: A look at the acting chops of some of our homegrown talent

Happy Birthday, Canada! In honour of Canada’s 144^th Dominion Day, I thought I’d write a piece about our great country. Canada is known for many great things like maple syrup, the beaver, multiculturalism, free health care, the Stanley Cup and the Royal Canadian Mounties. We’re a country rich in talent with world-renowned representatives in the sports world (Wayne Gretzky, Steve Nash), in the arts (Margaret Atwood, The Group of Seven), in music (Neil Young, The Guess Who), and in film.

Canada’s bevy of talented Canucks have become big movers and shakers in Hollywood with roles in hugely successful films. Several Canadian actors have garnered both critical and commercial success to become household names and sought after players in the film industry. As Canada celebrates its 144^th year as a nation, we honour its great acting talent with a look at some great Canadian actors.

Jim Carrey

Jim Carrey was born in Newmarket, Ontario. He began his career in comedy performing at Yuk Yuk’s in Toronto. He landed his first major starring role in the hilariously popular Ace Venture: Pet Detective, which began the snowball effect of great comedic performances by Carrey in films like The Mask, Dumb and Dumber, The Cable Guy and Liar, Liar. Proving his wasn’t a one-trick pony about to be typecast; he stretched his acting chops in more dramatic films like The Truman Show and Man on the Moon, earning Golden Globe Awards for both performances.

Rachel McAdams

Rachel McAdams was born in London, Ontario. She graduated from the drama program at York University in 2001. In 2004, she starred in two major motion pictures – Mean Girls and The Notebook – roles which raised her profile in Hollywood and led to other prominent roles in Wedding Crashers and Red Eye. After the success of these films, McAdams was dubbed the new “it girl” and quickly became Canada’s sweetheart. When she’s not making movies, McAdams lives with her brother in a small town outside Toronto. She’s been quoted in People Magazine as saying, “Acting is my job. It's not my life. My life is in Toronto.”

Ryan Gosling

Ryan Gosling was born in London, Ontario. At age 12, he appeared on The Mickey Mouse Club. He earned mainstream success alongside compatriot Rachel McAdams in The Notebook. In the film, they play a young couple whose love affair begins one summer and lasts a lifetime. In a classic case of life imitating art, McAdams and Gosling became romantically involved after finishing production on The Notebook and dated for three years before calling it quits.

Switching gears completely, Gosling next starred as a drug addicted middle-school teacher in the drama Half Nelson, for which he received his first Academy Award nomination. He followed that performance with another staring turn in Lars and the Real Girl, an unconventional love story about a quirky guy named, Lars, who develops a relationship with a doll named Bianca. Critics loved the movie and Gosling’s performance was nominated for a Golden Globe Award. Last year, Gosling once again wowed critics with his turn in Blue Valentine.

Michael J. Fox

Michael J. Fox was born in Edmonton, Alberta. Fox became a household name when he captured the hearts of television viewers in the role of Alex P. Keaton in the sitcom Family Ties. In 1985, he starred in what became the highest grossing film of that year – Back to the Future. Back to the Future was a critical and commercial success and became a pop culture phenomenon. It remains one of the most beloved films of all time and graces numerous “best movies” lists. Fox remains one of Canada’s most beloved actors not only for his body of work, but for his personal and courageous battle with Parkinson ’s disease. He’s become a strong advocate for Parkinson’s disease awareness and research, creating a foundation called The Michael J. Fox Foundation to help advance promising research in finding a cure for the disease.

Sandra Oh

Sandra Oh was born in Nepean, Ontario. Oh became widely known in Canada for her lead performance in Double Happiness for which she won a Genie Award for Best Actress. Double Happiness is about an aspiring actress trying to fulfill her dreams amidst competing duties and obligations. She has starred in other noteworthy Canadian films – Long Life, Happiness and Prosperity and Last Night. In 2004, Oh became known to American audiences when she starred in the Academy Award nominated film Sideways. Currently, in her role as Christina Yang in the medical series Grey’s Anatomy, Oh has solidified herself as one of the best known characters on television.

Leslie Neilson

Leslie Neilson was born in Regina, Saskatchewan. When he was young, he enlisted in the Royal Canadian Air Force then worked as a disc jockey. His acting career began with dramatic roles in television, but Neilson found his true niche as a great comedic actor. He is best known for his performances in comedy disaster film parodies like Airplane! and The Naked Gun Series. Neilson’s knack for portraying characters with deadpan seriousness while hilarity and absurdity surrounded him was pure comedy gold. The American Film Institute ranked Airplane! on its list of the top ten comedy films of all time. Neilson passed away in November 2010 due to complications from pneumonia. In an effort to garner one last laugh perhaps, Neilson chose “Let ‘er Rip” as his epitaph.

Ryan Reynolds

Ryan Reynolds was born in Vancouver, British Columbia. He broke onto the scene with a starring role in the National Lampoon movie Van Wilder. Reynolds displayed his great comedic timing and leading man charisma and went on to star in other funny flicks like Just Friends and Definitely, Maybe. Stretching his acting chops and showcasing his physicality and ability to play darker roles, he strayed from comedy and starred in the supernatural action film Blade: Trinity and in a remake of the horror film The Amityville Horror. Reynolds continues not to favour one genre over another, splitting his starring roles between comedy – The Proposal – and action ­– Green Lantern.

John Candy

John Candy was born in Toronto, Ontario. He began his career as a standup comic and rose to fame as a member of the improv troupe The Second City. Candy’s superb comedic timing and remarkably endearing and hilarious characterizations helped to make films like Splash, Spaceballs, Planes, Trains and Automobiles, The Great Outdoors and Uncle Buck great critical and commercial successes. Candy dabbled in drama and took on more serious roles in the early 1990s, but his dramatic films could not rival the success of his funny films. Sadly, Candy died from a heart attack at age 43.

Who are your favourite acting Canucks? Let us know in the comments section.

Which is Better?

Ryan Gosling

10 sample films:

Blue Valentine
Lars and the Real Girl
Half Nelson
The Notebook
The Believer
Remember the Titans
The United States of Leland
All Good Things
Fracture
Murder by Numbers

or

Heath Ledger

10 sample films:

Brokeback Mountain
The Dark Knight
10 Things I Hate About You
Monster’s Ball
The Four Feathers
A Knights Tale
The Patriot
Casanova
Candy
The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus

Which do you prefer? Let me know in the comments section

Blue Valentine E-Card A Relationship Killer.

Blue Valentine

Yesterday I talked about the silliness behind Blue Valentine getting hit with an NC-17 rating, which at the time this review was written, was under appeal by The Weinstein Company who hold the distribution rights. So it is only fitting that talk about my views on the film itself. Directed by Derek Cianfrance, Blue Valentine is an intimate and honest look at what makes couples fall in love and fall apart.

Dean (Ryan Gosling) works his blue-collar job and takes pleasures in the simple things in life, mainly beer and his family. Although rough around the edges, Dean is a romantic at heart. Dean’s wife Cindy (Michelle Williams) is a nurse who is looking to further her career. Cindy is growing tired of Dean’s childlike ways and the distant between them begins to surface. In a last ditch effort to save their marriage Dean and Cindy decide to have a weekend away for just the two of them. Yet the trip hits a major bump in the road when Cindy runs into an old boyfriend, Bobby (Mike Vogel), at the store.

As I mentioned in an earlier post, Blue Valentine was my favourite film at TIFF this year. In many ways it felt like I was watching the fictional version of another great film I saw at TIFF, Allen King’s A Married Couple. Some will liken the film to Revolutionary Road, but I think it is more along the lines of François Ozon’s brilliant 5X2 more than anything else. Still, make no mistake Blue Valentine is a film that charts its own path. The reason I allude to 5X2 is because of the way time is manipulated in the film and the secrets which the manipulation reveals.

Blue Valentine continually jumps back and forth between the present and the past. Cianfrance gives equal weight to both the couple’s happier times in the past and their current turbulent state. As the film progresses, key details from past relationships are revealed as well as the ramifications they have on the present. This not only impacts the characters in the film, but how the viewer reacts to them as well. The film, similar to relationships themselves, is never as clear cut as you think it will be.

The key to Blue Valentine’s success is in the astonishing performances by Ryan Gosling and Michelle Williams. Gosling brings so many layers to the role that you wish the film went on for another two hours just so you can delve into Dean’s mind a bit more. The thing that I loved about Gosling’s portrayal is the fact that Dean never goes to the level you expect him to physically. This is most evident in the “infamous NC-17 inducing” scene. Despite the amount of times Dean is prodded, he always keeps his values in check even when he has reached his breaking point. Michelle Williams is equally mesmerizing as Cindy. It is only in the flashbacks that the cracks in Cindy’s character begin to show. At first it appears that she is just fed up with Dean’s immaturity, yet there are much deeper issues at play. The fact that I could not stop wondering where the characters ended up after the film was over is a testament of the wonderful work of both actors.

Blue Valentine does not hit theatres until December 31st and hopefully the NC-17 rating will be re-evaluated by then. This is a film that needs to be seen for both the story and the performances. It may have taken Derek Cianfrance 11 years to get the financing together for Blue Valentine, but it was worth it in the end. It was my favourite film at TIFF; and is one of my favourite films this year.

Movie Marketing Monday

Blue Valentine

Blue Valentine was my favourite film at this year’s TIFF. Look for my review of the film to be posted within the next week or so.




Drive Angry 3D

Nicolas Cage going over-the-top once again...just the way we like him. Hopefully Drive Angry 3D will be much better than both the awful Gone in Sixty Seconds and the horrendous Ghost Rider.