Fat Dude Digs Flicks

And the Andy Award for the Best Picture of 2011 goes to…

1. DRIVE (directed by Nicolas Winding Refn; written by Hossein Amini; based upon the novel by James Sallis)

A mysterious Hollywood stuntman, mechanic and getaway driver lands himself in trouble when he helps out his neighbour.

Before I continue, allow me to state that DRIVE is also an Andy Award winner for Best Actor (Ryan Gosling) and Best Director (Nicolas Winding Refn).

My favorite movie of the year has held this position from the moment Ryan Gosling first appeared on screen as Driver. There are moments in cinema where you just tell that you are about to witness something special. DRIVE is my something special of 2011. Gosling possesses such power in his mostly silent performance. He is a man not to be messed with. Nicolas Winding Refn delivers the anti-Fast Five; a driving movie where the driving is secondary to the development of the plot and characters. All of the actors appearing in DRIVE are at their best. Gosling and Brooks. Carey Mulligan, Bryan Cranston, Ron Perlman, Oscar Isaac, and Christina Hendricks deliver wonderful performances that add the entire landscape of this world. The film is reminiscent of the 80s glow of Miami Vice or the glow we remember from video games like Grand Theft Auto Vice City. DRIVE takes its influences, including, one would imagine, TAXI DRIVER, and builds upon them leaving us with the perfect thinking person’s action film. The music is blistering. The violence shocking. This is a powder keg of a motion picture worthy of multiple viewings. It isn’t shocking that this film missed out on Oscar glory, but it is truly disappointing.