The MacGuffin

In creating the mood for the film Drive, Ryan Gosling shows his character’s driving skills early, as well as the calm of his character in intense situations, his fast thinking and movements of the vehicle, and how he handles problems that arrive—knowing that the audience will be waiting for scenes of intense driving (so much like Milk did in getting the gay sex scene out of the way.) After showcasing Gosling’s skills, the story starts in earnest. Gosling, known simply as Driver, is a stoic, silent type, works as a mechanic and stunt man, and also moonlights as a driver for criminals. No history or motivation is given into why he does this work. He is who he is, that is how he presents himself and it stays constant.

It is a rare ability for a film to both rely on a sense of nostalgia and simultaneously introduce something new that is its own. Drive, a neo-noir thriller from director Nicolas Winding Refn (Bronson, Valhalla Rising), is a perfect example of one of those rare films. The story follows an enigmatic man who drives stunt cars for films by day, and moonlights as a getaway driver at night. The driver, who has no name, meets his neighbor and her son one day and establishes a relationship that leads him into a web of betrayal and violence.

It is always hard to tell in a given year what is going to be a good film. I have a notoriously bad track record for predicting what movies I will end up loving. The trailer and the premise of the movies are always misleading because you can never get the full picture of what you are going to get from your characters or the action on screen. The Social Network, my favorite movie of last year, had a trailer that did nothing for me; it seemed the boring story of Facebook instead of one of the most interesting character studies of the year. Or there’s Avatar, the overly special effected movie that seemed it had nothing else going for it, but it ended up being an extremely fun romp that I enjoyed immensely.

AMC has proven over the last three or four years that they have the most provocative shows on television.  They have controlled the Emmy wins in the drama category, letting the Big Four know that they can hold their own on the battlefield too.  This is all due to their two big shows, Mad Men and Breaking Bad, the latter of which is currently my favorite show on television.  Breaking Bad stars Bryan Cranston of Malcolm in the Middle fame and Aaron Paul, as Walter White and Jesse Pinkman, respectively.  Bryan Cranston has won three straight Emmys (all three years the show has aired) for Best Actor in a Drama, while Aaron Paul finally won the Best Supporting Actor in a Drama Emmy this past year.