I’ve pretty much thought about Drive nonstop for the past few weeks.
It started when I saw this tense and perfectly paced Cannes teaser clip. My excitement for the film grew when I saw the cast list: Ryan Gosling, Carey Mulligan, and Christina Hendrix, a cast who have more then proven their talent in projects like Half Nelson, An Education, and Mad Men. And then there is Nicolas Winding Refn, the films director. Not only did he just win Best Director at Cannes for Drive but he was also hand picked by Gosling to direct the project. I always think that extra commit and passion for a project creates a much better product.
The two spent two months living together in LA, driving at night, listening to music, and creating a screenplay of minimal dialog and lots of action. A screenplay that seems like it would perfectly fit the feel of the James Sallis novella where the film draws its inspiration from (of course I had to read it).
The book, in it’s gritty neo-noir fashion, tells the story of Driver, a Hollywood stuntman by day and getaway driver by night. It’s nothing short of badass. But despite the action and constant tension in the book the character stays believable and human, trying to find his balance, both morally and existentially. In the film adaptation there are seems to be more of a focus on a bit of a love story.
The film comes to the U.S. September 17th and I can’t wait to see how they’ve adapted it.