Salon.com > Drive

Cannes: Ryan Gosling’s new movie draws the boo-birds

Thu, 23 May 2013 00:00:00 +0000

CANNES, France – Remember when someone tried to sue the makers and distributors of “Drive” for, I guess, not putting enough driving in the movie? Well, Ryan Gosling and writer-director Nicolas Winding Refn are back with another ultraviolent, ultra-stylized, music-throbbing, male-angsty viewing experience, this time set in the underworld of Bangkok, and that person may want to get the lawyers greased up and ready to go. Potential targets could include anyone in my profession who describes “Only God Forgives” as a thriller, or who tries to characterize its plot by using words like “plot.”

A loud chorus of boos and whistles (mixed with a smattering of applause, to be fair), echoed through the Grand Théâtre Lumière as the closing credits of “Only God Forgives” rolled during Wednesday morning’s press screening. It was this year’s first major appearance by the notorious Cannes boo-birds, and a startling turn of events for one of the festival’s most eagerly anticipated titles, especially given the collective movie-buff orgasm that greeted “Drive” here two years ago. Whether it reflects the world’s final verdict on the movie very much remains to be seen.

The “Drive” backlash: Too violent, too arty or both?

Fri, 23 Sep 2011 14:01:00 +0000

Thomas Rogers, Salon editor: So there seems to be an audience backlash against "Drive," a movie that you and a lot of other critics have been very fond of. It had decent opening weekend numbers (about $11 million, good for No. 3 on the charts), but the problem with the movie seems to be word of mouth: Basically, people hate it. It might have something to do with the fact that it's being advertised (at least on New York subway platforms) very ambiguously, with lots of glamorous photos of Ryan Gosling and Christina Hendricks, in a way that says very little about what the movie is about. People show up expecting a glossy sexy movie about a man driving a car, when in reality it's basically a hyper-violent European art-house movie that offers little in the way of car chases or romance. That's one way of thinking about it, but I honestly think the bigger problem is that this movie is too gut-churningly violent.

Eastwood, Wayne, Gosling — Hollywood’s lone wolves

Sat, 17 Sep 2011 00:01:00 +0000

Lone Wolves -- like the one played by Ryan Gosling in "Drive" -- have been a movie staple as long as films have existed. Mostly men, they have few if no attachments, tend to work alone and have an aura of mystery. They usually ride into town the same way they leave, by themselves, their stoicism intact. But while they are in town, changes are always afoot. Sometimes the lone wolf is out for retribution, returning to the scene of past wrongdoing. Sometimes he is retired, yet convinced to do "one last job." Most times he just wants to be left alone, yet gets pulled into other people's business. Whether or not the fight is of the lone wolf's own making, it is usually of his own finishing. With justice served, for better or worse, the lone wolf makes his exit, leaving no one who has borne witness unchanged.

Pick of the week: Ryan Gosling’s dynamite heist thriller

Fri, 16 Sep 2011 00:30:00 +0000

Editor's note: This is a revised and updated version of Andrew O'Hehir's original review of "Drive" from the Cannes Film Festival.

Take the hottest young male sex symbol in Hollywood, add an immensely skillful young European director with a worldwide cult following and plug them into a classic Los Angeles heist-gone-wrong story that recalls both Roger Corman's B-movie aesthetic and the glossy Hollywood spectacles of Michael Mann. You probably know already whether that's a movie you'd line up around the block to see or one you'd pay to avoid. Either way, it's called "Drive," and it stars Ryan Gosling -- who seems to have gone from indie actor and one-time Oscar nominee (for "Half Nelson," in 2006) to smokin'-est guy on the planet, almost overnight. It was made by fast-rising Danish director Nicolas Winding Refn, whose eccentric career ranges from the insane medieval fantasy "Valhalla Rising" to the campy, stylized prison film "Bronson" to his Copenhagen-set "Pusher" crime trilogy.