“Drive,” directed by Nicolas Winding Refn and based on a book of the same name by James Sallis, is another movie that makes the list of the best Neo-Noir movies of all time. With Ryan Gosling as its protagonist, supported by a stellar supporting cast, a superb screenplay by Hossein Amini, alluring cinematography by Newton Thomas Sigel, and great action scenes, the movie received a standing ovation at the 2011 Cannes Film Festival. “Drive” did receive some criticism for its intense scenes of grisly violence.

Ryan Gosling puts in an outstanding performance as the ‘nameless’ Driver, a man of few words who keeps a low profile. He tries to avoid attention to himself. However, in most of his scenes, the Driver sports a shiny silver blazer with a bright orange Scorpion engraved on its back. Like the heroes of classic film noir, he is a gritty and tough individual with a morally ambivalent character.

The plot is set in Los Angeles and begins as a slow-burn thriller, taking its time to develop its characters.

The Driver is a very busy man of multiple vocations. True to his name, he is an expert driver. When he is not working as a mechanic at an auto repair shop, he sometimes works as a movie stunt double and performs car stunts for movies. He also moonlights as a getaway driver and is adept at concealing his identity when he participates in heists.

Shannon, the owner of the auto repair shop, is the Driver’s unofficial marketing manager and finds suitable assignments for him. Irene (Carey Mulligan), a single mother, lives with her son Benicio (Kaden Leos) in an apartment on the same floor as the Driver’s, in a high-rise building.

The Driver has a soft spot for Irene and Benicio and often helps Irene carry her groceries. Shannon successfully strikes a lucrative deal with two gangsters, Bernie Rose (Albert Brooks) and Nino (Ron Perlman), that entails buying a car and having the Driver represent the duo in a race.

The Driver begins to spend more time with Irene and Benicio, and it appears that a relationship is about to blossom between the Driver and Irene. The romantic scenes unfold in a refreshingly subtle fashion and are limited to quiet smiles, holding hands, and few spoken words.

Things change when Irene’s incarcerated husband, ‘Standard’ (Oscar Isaac), is released and returns home to Irene and Benicio. The brief interactions are cordial but uncomfortable each time the Driver sees Irene and Standard in the hallways or elevator of the building.

One day, the Driver finds a badly bruised Standard telling Benicio not to tell Irene about how he got his bruises. When the Driver asks Standard who caused his injuries, Standard reveals that he owes Cook, a dangerous thug, a large sum of protection money for Standard’s stint in prison.

The Driver’s strong feelings for Irene and Benicio’s safety and well-being push him to partake in a heist that Cook wants Standard to complete. The Driver joins Standard when he sets out to meet Cook and Blanche, an associate of Cook.

Standard is tasked with going into a pawn shop and stealing $40,000 in cash, while the Driver, who is responsible for the getaway, is to wait with Blanche. The endeavor turns deadly when Standard is gunned down, but the Driver manages to flee the scene with Blanche. Another car pursues the Driver, but he manages to escape from it.

The Driver and Blanche hide in a seedy motel. While watching the day’s news on TV, the Driver is shocked that the owner of the pawn shop identifies Standard as the lone perpetrator of the heist and that no money was stolen. A furious Driver threatens Blanche, who reveals that the bag contained a million dollars that she and Cook had hidden in the pawn shop.

Two gunmen arrive at the motel and inflict a grisly death on Blanche. At this stage, the enraged Driver sheds his quiet unassuming demeanor and transforms into an unstoppable vigilante, violently killing both attackers. Now on the warpath, the Driver sets out on a gruesome path of vengeance.

His gritty, merciless investigation would reveal that Cook is in league with Bernie and Nino. When he realizes that the stolen money belongs to the mob and that the lives of Irene and Benicio are in jeopardy, the Driver knows he has to act in haste, first to save the mother and son, and then to seek retribution on those responsible for this deadly predicament. The plot accelerates with scenes of extreme violence to its ultimate end.

The noteworthy cinematography blends slick camerawork with well-engineered scenes crafted with a carefully chosen color palette. The scenes of LA, both nocturnal and those in daylight, have a tinge of blue blended with somber shades. The indoor scenes too blend the decor with the attire of the characters.

The background music from the Canadian group Desire, Jewel, and the Oregonian group Chromatics works well to set the tone through each stage of the plot. The action sequences in the movie are extremely violent and inundated with gore.

Ryan Gosling’s performance as the Driver is beyond impressive. In the early scenes, he delivers a restrained performance as a soft-spoken, unassuming mechanic who stays out of the limelight. However, we slowly see his daring side when a former acquaintance tries to converse with him at a diner.

When he realizes that he has been played and that his loved ones are in grave danger, we see his dark violent side as he turns into the ultimate nemesis. Carey Mulligan plays the soft, quiet, charming, and vulnerable young mother, Irene.

Another noteworthy performance comes from Albert Brooks who plays the two-faced Bernie. Bernie, the Jewish gangster, presents a polite and charming exterior, masking sharp cunning and a capacity for inflicting ruthless brutality that he unleashes in desperate situations.

“Drive” received accolades from many critics who have hailed it as an ‘art-house’ movie. It blends film noir with action and crime drama genres and is an essential watch for fans of all of these genres.