Most critics greet Drive with strong enthusiasm, with praise centred on Gosling’s restrained performance and Refn’s control of pace, silence and sudden violence. The reviews repeatedly single out the neon-lit images, synth-led soundtrack and carefully staged getaways. Gosling’s ability to hold attention with little dialogue is a particular point of agreement, while several critics also praise the supporting cast. For its admirers, the familiar crime story feels fresh because of how precisely it is told.
Reservations concern thin characterisation, borrowed genre conventions and violence that some find damaging to the mood. The spread runs from wholehearted praise to a few mixed assessments, rather than broad disagreement about the film’s craft. The Hollywood Reporter finds the script threadbare and the action insufficiently thrilling; The Wrap admires the chases and Albert Brooks but finds the styling excessive. The main divide is over whether that style sustains the story.
E
Empire
23 September 2011 · ★★★★★ · Adam Smith
100
The critic celebrates Refn's gripping, stylish neo-noir with its mid-80s aesthetic, masterful editing in the opening getaway, gorgeous cinematography, and Gosling's cool, starmaking performance channeling Steve McQueen, calling it shamelessly disreputable ultra-violent fun.
The critic praises Refn's stylish, lyrical Hollywood noir as one of the year's most impressive American pictures, highlighting its intense yet poetic violence and strong performances. Gosling is singled out for his charismatic, understated lead turn as the taciturn driver.
Celebrates the film's lean, efficient minimalist thriller style as a powerful reminder of genre potential when every element serves a purpose; highlights its mythic, stylized take on fast cars and dangerous men.
The review highlights the film's fresh take on archetypes through clashing moods, Gosling's mesmerising laconic turn evoking classic cool icons, and Refn's dynamic direction blending lush visuals with sudden violence, calling it both archetypal and fresh.
The review lauds the film's concentrated, relentless forward momentum and myth-making quality as a modern fairy tale, highlighting Gosling's riveting star-making turn with its dynamic between stillness and explosive violence, and Refn's stylish direction.
Refn reimagines pulp noir as a violent fairy tale with stunning synth score, crisp digital images of LA, and a transformative performance from Gosling as the taciturn Driver. The film escalates from quiet romance to ecstatic violence but loses some empathy in its later psychotic turn.
Notes the impressive action set pieces and Refn's homage to classic driver films like Walter Hill's The Driver; singles out the visual rhythm, patient tension-building, and strong supporting performances for praise while noting some scripting issues with character relationships.
Drive is a self-consciously slick, synth-scored throwback built on familiarity, with neon lights, screeching tyres, brooding Gosling and strong supporting turns. It never drags and delivers a pulse-pounding, beautifully crafted and shiny riff on old material.
Refn's Drive is a satisfying neo-noir getaway-driver movie with strong chase sequences, atmospheric visuals and music, and a cool central performance from Gosling. It is classically derivative and Refn's most anonymous film to date, though it fits his talents well in its nihilistic world of tough guys and mean machines.
Praises the atmospheric, off-center crime drama and strong cast led by Gosling, but finds the script threadbare and the action sequences not sufficiently thrilling or genre-maximal.
The critic praises Gosling's charismatic, cool performance as the laconic driver and Refn's stylish neon-noir direction with its 1980s influences, but notes the film's increasing pulp violence and finds the neighbour character somewhat wet.
The critic finds the film's neo-noir style and visuals appealing but notes that its graphic violence clashes with the traditional mythology and dilutes the mood. Albert Brooks stands out in a supporting role as a menacing criminal.
The review highlights the film's sleek retro style and thrilling set pieces as fresh takes on the heist genre, praising Gosling's stoic performance and Refn's direction. It notes some weaknesses in character depth but overall delivers guilty-pleasure entertainment.
The critic calls it an exemplary movie that satisfies as both a genre thriller and an unusual, individual piece of filmmaking. Praises the expert casting (especially Gosling), Refn's direction that contrasts abrupt violence with silence, and the way it fulfills thriller duties while remaining arrestingly original.
The film is a modern masterpiece that is visually stunning and magnificently brutal, with a haunting quality that draws viewers in through its confident direction and use of silence. The critic singles out the electrifying soundtrack as central to the film's emotional power and Ryan Gosling's mesmerizing, dialogue-light performance for its ability to convey depth through expression and presence.
The critic calls Drive a magnificent reinvention of the action-crime genre that works across time and genre boundaries through strong performances and gorgeous cinematography. Ryan Gosling delivers a career-best performance as the laconic protagonist while Albert Brooks is tremendous as a beguiling and ruthless villain.
Describes it as an outstanding Los Angeles-set thriller and possibly the best movie of 2011, with Gosling and Refn forging a totally in-sync partnership. Singles out Refn's assured stylistic flair, precise car chases, tonal switches between emotion and violence, and the pulsing soundtrack.
The critic finds the film stylish but overburdened by excess, praising the chase scenes and Albert Brooks' performance while complaining about over-the-top aesthetics.
Ordered by the weight we give each publication, then by score. Scores are normalised to 100; * means inferred from an unrated review. Summaries are ours, not quotations; follow the links for the reviews themselves. How we rate
