Gosling was great in Blue Valentine. Good in Crazy, Stupid, Love. I haven't seen Half Nelson but heard good things about. Can't remember how he acted in the Notebook. Wasn't too into it bc I was interested in other things lol.
I'm honestly shocked that it was even 150 pages; I would have guessed the script was something like 15 pages long. I really wanted to like this movie; the cinematography is gorgeous, the music was awesome, the cast was all-star, and for the most part it delivered. But this honestly might be one of the worst scripts I have ever seen, and the fact that it holds back a movie that is really good otherwise is really quite a shame. This is like if the 2000 Baltimore Ravens had to start Brandon Weeden at QB; I don't care how good the rest of your team is, you still need someone functional back there, even if it's just Trent Dilfer. Drive is the same way; it doesn't matter if everything else is amazing if the most important part of the movie is thinner than the 1-ply toilet paper provided to county jails. Actually, I've changed my opinion, Brandon Weeden might be terrible, but at least he is a quarterback. Drive is like if the 2000 Ravens simply direct snapped to Jamal Lewis and Priest Holmes; it doesn't even have the dignity of having a bad plot, it has NO plot. And while a movie with a horrible script can still be pretty entertaining, Drive's lack of momentum and purpose just make it feel empty and ultimately forgettable. As much as I tried to convince myself to enjoy the movie for all the things it does really well, I simply can't like it. I imagine this is what most people feel when I rave to them about Community; there's just too much wrong with it for them to appreciate the rest of it. So I'm happy for those that like it, but I'll take Vin Diesel and Paul Walker jumping off of a 200 foot cliff, Sung Kang making out with an Israeli model, and the Rock singlehandedly keeping the industries of arm butter and Winstrol afloat for the best car movie of 2011.
I'm guessing it's about 45 pages if condensed to Anna Karenina font and spacing. The Driver is also much older. Originally it was a Hugh Jackman project at FOX. He dropped out and then it made its way to Gosling who said he'd do it if he could chose his director. He chose Nicolas Winding Refn after seeing Bronson and the Pusher Trilogy.
