It's far from a masterpiece IMO; it's a tad pretentious with some artsy-fartsy in there just for artsy-fartsy's sake, although I loved the semi-retro 80's style and music homage to Michael Mann 80's film-making. Bottom line: I liked it and would recommend it to anyone who likes heist/gangster flicks with a cerebral slant. I wouldn't recommend it to mouth breathers, folks who like to hang out at Walmart and/or anyone who thinks Towmater is the height of funny.
I actually really didn't enjoy it. It was a well acted and well made movie, with an interesting plot...I just didn't think they really went anywhere with it. Really i just thought it was kind of boring for the most part.
IT really drops off story wise after about the first 45 minutes. I think that's the most common complaint I have seen and I agree with it. First scene was fantastic.
I thought it was great all the way through, and really picked up toward the middle. Just kinda lukewarm on the ending though.
It had a good identity and feel but what absolutely killed it for me was the trailer. They made it out to be a blockbuster adventure transporter movie which i came into it thinking. Had that not happened i would have appreciated it a lot more. I was waiting for action the whole time and when it did kick in it was very slow and with no dialogue. The picture and soundtrack was great tho but you dont have to base a whole movie around that. Look at prometheus or rescue dawn and how they give you long stills of the setting but still do everything else you want in a movie.
I didn't even attempt to watch the movie in theaters or pay it any mind because of the ridiculous, cheesy, high school, affliction wearing approach they took with the trailer. Then I heard it was good from a reliable source so I had to check it out. Was blown away that it wasn't the pee-pee game contest the trailer made it out to be.
Credits to the screenwriter for extracting a plot out of what is 150 page novela. There's barely any dialogue and most of it is the Drivers thoughts. One thing that bothered me is that Refn changed the ethnicity of Irene, who is Hispanic in the book. That makes more sense given they live smack dab in the middle of Echo Park. There was a really cool French doc on youtube about the director Nicolas Winding Refn. They took it down it seems. All I could fins was a teaser and some clips. <iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/FR4QWd5hlvA" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe> His next film is with Gosling and is pretty much Drive + Pusher in Bangkok. Nicolas Winding Refn on "Only God Forgives" <iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/b8wWr-kkdvM" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
It was unique, but a lot of that was due to style. And I don't mean that in a bad way. A crime movie filmed through an indie film lens and sensibility. Not really mind blowing...but a mash up of style and genre that we haven't seen before and I'd like to see something like this done once again.
Movie had me hooked in the first minute. My only complaint is that I would have liked more driving sequences...maybe a bit more during the Ron Pearlman scene at the end. Otherwise I loved it. Soundtrack was on Amazon for 3 bucks awhile back. Great deal that was.
Finally I've found somebody who agrees with me. Ryan Gosling is VASTLY overrated. He displays just about zero emotion in any film he does.
He's just another actor getting by with his pretty face. (no homo) His acting skills are the same as that dude in Avatar, Sam Worthington.
