''Drive'' is a 2011 American
action drama film
In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super-gen ...
directed by
Nicolas Winding Refn. The screenplay, written by
Hossein Amini
Hossein Amini ( fa, حسین امینی; born 18 January 1966) is an Iranian-born British screenwriter and film director. Amini has worked as a screenwriter since the early 1990s. He was nominated for numerous awards for the 1997 film '' The Win ...
, is based on
James Sallis's
2005 novel of the same name. The film stars
Ryan Gosling as an unnamed
Hollywood
Hollywood usually refers to:
* Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California
* Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States
Hollywood may also refer to:
Places United States
* Hollywood District (disambiguation)
* Hollywoo ...
stunt driver
A stunt is an unusual and difficult physical feat or an act requiring a special skill, performed for artistic purposes usually on television, theaters, or cinema. Stunts are a feature of many action films. Before computer generated imagery spec ...
who moonlights as a
getaway driver
A crime scene getaway is the act of fleeing the location where one has broken the law. It is an act that the offender(s) may or may not have planned in detail, resulting in a variety of outcomes. A :crime scene is the "location of a crime; e ...
. He quickly grows fond of his neighbor, Irene (
Carey Mulligan
Carey Hannah Mulligan (born 28 May 1985) is an English actress. She has received various accolades, including a British Academy Film Award, in addition to nominations for two Academy Awards, three Golden Globe Awards, and a Tony Award.
Mulli ...
), and her young son, Benicio. When her debt-ridden husband, Standard (
Oscar Isaac), is released from prison, the two men take part in what turns out to be a botched million-dollar heist that endangers the lives of everyone involved. The film co-stars
Bryan Cranston
Bryan Lee Cranston (born March 7, 1956) is an American actor and director who is best known for portraying Walter White in the AMC crime drama series ''Breaking Bad'' (2008–2013) and Hal in the Fox sitcom ''Malcolm in the Middle'' (2000� ...
,
Christina Hendricks
Christina Rene Hendricks (born May 3, 1975) is an American actress and former model. With an extensive career on screen and stage, she has received various accolades, including six Primetime Emmy Award nominations, two Screen Actors Guild Awar ...
,
Ron Perlman, and
Albert Brooks
Albert Brooks (born Albert Lawrence Einstein ; July 22, 1947) is an American actor and filmmaker.
He received an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor for 1987's '' Broadcast News'' and was widely praised for his performance as a ...
.
Producers
Marc Platt and Adam Siegel
optioned
In the film industry, an option is a contractual agreement pertaining to film rights between a potential film producer (such as a movie studio, a production company, or an individual) and the author of source material, such as a book, play, or s ...
the source novel after Siegel read a review from ''
Publishers Weekly
''Publishers Weekly'' (''PW'') is an American weekly trade news magazine targeted at publishers, librarians, booksellers, and literary agents. Published continuously since 1872, it has carried the tagline, "The International News Magazine of ...
''. Adapting the book proved to be challenging for Amini, as it had a
nonlinear narrative. Gosling, one of Platt's top casting choices, eventually signed on for the lead, as he wanted to star in an
action-oriented project. Gosling played a pivotal role in the film's production, which included hiring Refn as director and Beth Mickle as
production designer.
Newton Thomas Sigel oversaw the
principal photography, which started on September 25, 2010, was shot on location in various parts of
Los Angeles, and ended on November 12.
Before its September 2011 release, ''Drive'' had been shown at a number of film festivals, including the
2011 Cannes Film Festival
The 64th Cannes Film Festival was held from 11 to 22 May 2011. American actor Robert De Niro served as the president of the jury for the main competition and French filmmaker Michel Gondry headed the jury for the short film competition. South Ko ...
, where it received a
standing ovation. Refn won the festival's
Best Director Award. The film was praised for its direction, cinematography, performances (particularly Gosling and Brooks'), visuals, action sequences, and musical score; however, some critics were appalled by its graphic violence and found that potentially detrimental to the film's box office success. Nonetheless, the film was still a commercial success, grossing $81 million against a production budget of $15 million. Several critics listed ''Drive'' as one of the best films of 2011, including the
National Board of Review. Its
honors include a nomination for
Best Sound Editing at the
84th Academy Awards
The 84th Academy Awards ceremony, presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), honored the best 2011 in film, films of 2011 in the United States and took place on February 26, 2012, at the Dolby Theatre, Hollywood and H ...
.
Plot
An unnamed man, known as "Driver", works as a mechanic, a stunt double, a stunt driver, and a criminal-for-hire getaway driver in
Los Angeles,
California. His jobs are all managed by auto shop owner Shannon, who persuades
Jewish mobster Bernie Rose and his half-Italian partner Nino "Izzy" Paolozzi to purchase a car for the Driver to race. The Driver meets his new neighbor, Irene, and grows close to her and her young son, Benicio. Their relationship is interrupted when Irene's husband, Standard Gabriel, arrives after his release from prison. Standard owes
protection money from his time in prison and is assaulted by
Albanian gangster Chris Cook, who demands that Standard rob a
pawn shop for $40,000 to pay off the debt. Learning this, the Driver offers to act as the getaway driver for the pawn shop robbery.
While the Driver is waiting outside the pawn shop with Blanche, Cook's accomplice, the store owner kills Standard. The Driver and Blanche are then pursued by another car. The Driver hides with Blanche in a
motel
A motel, also known as a motor hotel, motor inn or motor lodge, is a hotel designed for motorists, usually having each room entered directly from the parking area for motor vehicles rather than through a central lobby. Entering dictionaries ...
where he learns that the pawn shop owner claims Standard was the sole perpetrator and no money was stolen. He threatens Blanche when she lies about being oblivious to the second car. She admits that the bag contains $1 million, and she and Cook planned to re-steal the money for themselves using the car that chased them. While Blanche is in the restroom, she is killed with a
shotgun
A shotgun (also known as a scattergun, or historically as a fowling piece) is a long-barreled firearm designed to shoot a straight-walled cartridge known as a shotshell, which usually discharges numerous small pellet-like spherical sub- pr ...
by one of Cook's henchmen. The Driver fatally stabs the gunman before killing another one with the shotgun.
At the auto shop, Shannon offers to hide the money, but the Driver declines. He tracks Cook to a
strip club and threatens to kill him. Cook reveals that Nino was behind the robbery. The Driver calls him, and Nino dismisses his offer of the money, instead sending a
hitman to the Driver and Irene's apartment building. The Driver tells an angry Irene about his involvement with her husband's death. When the pair enter an elevator, the Driver notices the hitman. He kisses Irene and then brutally stomps the hitman to death, horrifying Irene. Knowing that someone may have leaked the Driver's whereabouts for Nino to know his address, the Driver confronts Shannon, who reveals that he also unwittingly mentioned Irene. Driver tells Shannon to flee.
At his pizzeria, Nino reveals to Bernie that a low-level
Philadelphia mobster from the Italian "
East Coast mob" stashed the money at the pawn shop with plans to use the money to set up a new operation. Since anyone tied to the robbery could lead the East Coast Italian Mafia to them, they need to kill everyone involved. He convinces Bernie to follow his plan. Bernie murders Cook, as he is the sole witness to their agreement. After Shannon refuses to divulge the whereabouts of the Driver at the auto shop, Bernie slashes his forearm with a
straight razor
A straight razor is a razor with a blade that can fold into its handle. They are also called open razors and cut-throat razors. The predecessors of the modern straight razors include bronze razors, with cutting edges and fixed handles, produced b ...
, killing him.
Enraged and agonized at finding Shannon's corpse at the auto shop, the Driver disguises himself with a rubber stuntman's mask, follows Nino from the pizzeria to the
Pacific Coast Highway and rams his car onto a beach. The Driver chases Nino towards the ocean and drowns him. He calls Irene and tells her that he will not return, also letting her know that she and Benicio were the best part of his life. The Driver meets Bernie, who promises that Irene will be safe in exchange for the money. Upon giving him the money, Bernie stabs him in the stomach before the Driver pulls out his own knife and stabs Bernie to death. The Driver manages to escape, while Bernie's corpse lies in the parking lot next to the cash. Irene knocks on the Driver's apartment door and walks away when no one answers. Although severely wounded, the Driver drives into the night.
Cast
*
Ryan Gosling as the Driver
*
Carey Mulligan
Carey Hannah Mulligan (born 28 May 1985) is an English actress. She has received various accolades, including a British Academy Film Award, in addition to nominations for two Academy Awards, three Golden Globe Awards, and a Tony Award.
Mulli ...
as Irene Gabriel
*
Bryan Cranston
Bryan Lee Cranston (born March 7, 1956) is an American actor and director who is best known for portraying Walter White in the AMC crime drama series ''Breaking Bad'' (2008–2013) and Hal in the Fox sitcom ''Malcolm in the Middle'' (2000� ...
as Shannon
*
Albert Brooks
Albert Brooks (born Albert Lawrence Einstein ; July 22, 1947) is an American actor and filmmaker.
He received an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor for 1987's '' Broadcast News'' and was widely praised for his performance as a ...
as Bernie Rose
*
Oscar Isaac as Standard Gabriel
*
Christina Hendricks
Christina Rene Hendricks (born May 3, 1975) is an American actress and former model. With an extensive career on screen and stage, she has received various accolades, including six Primetime Emmy Award nominations, two Screen Actors Guild Awar ...
as Blanche
*
Ron Perlman as Nino 'Izzy' Paolozzi
* Kaden Leos as Benicio Gabriel
*
James Biberi
James Biberi (born July 28, 1965 in Gjakova) is an Albanian-American actor.
In 2013, he starred as Ilir in the neo-noir crime thriller ''Dead Man Down
''Dead Man Down'' is a 2013 American neo-noir crime thriller film written by J.H. Wyman and ...
as Chris Cook
* Jeff Wolfe as Assassin In The Tan Suit
*
Russ Tamblyn
Russell Irving Tamblyn, also known as Rusty Tamblyn (born December 30, 1934) is an American film and television actor and dancer.
Born and raised in Los Angeles, Tamblyn trained as a gymnast in his youth. He began his career as a child actor f ...
as Doc
* Andy San Dimas as Dancer
Production
Development
The novel ''
Drive
Drive or The Drive may refer to:
Motoring
* Driving, the act of controlling a vehicle
* Road trip, a journey on roads
Roadways
Roadways called "drives" may include:
* Driveway, a private road for local access to structures, abbreviated "drive"
* ...
'' by
James Sallis was published in 2005.
Producers
Marc Platt and Adam Siegel of Marc Platt Productions optioned the novel after Siegel read a review in ''
Publishers Weekly
''Publishers Weekly'' (''PW'') is an American weekly trade news magazine targeted at publishers, librarians, booksellers, and literary agents. Published continuously since 1872, it has carried the tagline, "The International News Magazine of ...
''.
The driver intrigued Siegel because he was "the kind of character you rarely see anymore he was a man with a purpose; he was very good at one thing and made no apologies for it". The character interested Platt, because he reminded him of movie heroes he looked up to as a child, characters typically portrayed by
Steve McQueen or
Clint Eastwood
Clinton Eastwood Jr. (born May 31, 1930) is an American actor and film director. After achieving success in the Western TV series '' Rawhide'', he rose to international fame with his role as the "Man with No Name" in Sergio Leone's "''Dolla ...
.
Hossein Amini
Hossein Amini ( fa, حسین امینی; born 18 January 1966) is an Iranian-born British screenwriter and film director. Amini has worked as a screenwriter since the early 1990s. He was nominated for numerous awards for the 1997 film '' The Win ...
adapted the novel for the screen. He felt it was a rare book to receive from a studio because it was short, gloomy, and like a poem. Since the novel does not present a linear story, but has many flashbacks and jumps around in time, Amini found the adaptation challenging. He felt the non-linear structure made it "a very tricky structure" for a feature film.
A film adaptation of ''Drive'' was first announced in early 2008, with
Neil Marshall
Neil Marshall (born 25 May 1970) is an English film and television director, editor, producer, and screenwriter. He directed the horror films '' Dog Soldiers'' (2002) and '' The Descent'' (2005), the science fiction action film '' Doomsday'' ( ...
set to direct what was being described as "an L.A.-set action mystery", planned as a starring vehicle for
Hugh Jackman
Hugh Michael Jackman (born 12 October 1968) is an Australian actor. Beginning in theatre and television, he landed his breakthrough role as James "Logan" Howlett / Wolverine in the 20th Century Fox ''X-Men'' film series (2000–2017), a role ...
.
Universal Studios
Universal Pictures (legally Universal City Studios LLC, also known as Universal Studios, or simply Universal; common metonym: Uni, and formerly named Universal Film Manufacturing Company and Universal-International Pictures Inc.) is an Americ ...
, which had tried to make a film version for some time, was also on board.
By February 2010, Marshall and Jackman were no longer attached to the project.
Producer Marc E. Platt contacted actor
Ryan Gosling about ''Drive'' early on. Platt explained: "I have this list that I've created of very talented individuals whose work inspire me writers, directors, actors whom I have to work with before I go onto another career or do something else with my life." Near the top of Platt's list was Gosling, who, despite having starred in several films of diverse genres, had never starred in anything like ''Drive''. He had always been interested in doing an
action-oriented project. Gosling said that he had been put off by the many current action genre films that focused more on stunts instead of characters. But he responded to Platt about two days later, as he was strongly attracted to the plot and the leading role of the unnamed driver. He thought the story had a "very strong character" at its core, and a "powerful" romance.
In an interview with
Rotten Tomatoes, Gosling was asked what had attracted him to the film, and whether he had read the earlier script when Jackman and director Neil Marshall were attached to it. He said:
I think that might be the original one I read. I read a few drafts. I read one as well where he wasn't a stunt driver at all, which was a newer draft maybe that's the one Hugh Jackman had; I'm not sure exactly. Basically when I read it, in trying to figure out who would do something like this, the only way to make sense of this is that this is a guy that's seen too many movies, and he's started to confuse his life for a film. He's lost in the mythology of Hollywood and he's become an amalgamation of all the characters that he admires.
When Gosling signed on for the leading role, he was allowed to choose the director, a first in his career.
The actor chose Danish filmmaker
Nicolas Winding Refn, whose work he admired. He said, "It had to be
im There was no other choice."
When Refn read the first screenplay for ''Drive'', he was more intrigued by the concept of a man having a split personality, being a stuntman by day and a getaway driver at night, than the plot of the story.
Believing that the director might be intimidated by the script, as it was unlike anything he had done before, Gosling had concerns about whether Refn wanted to participate. Refn took on the project without hesitation.
Casting
When casting roles in his films, Refn does not watch casting tapes or have his actors audition for him. Instead, he meets with them, and casts them on the spot if he feels they are right.
''Drive'' was the first film that British actress Carey Mulligan signed on to do after being nominated for an
Academy Award
The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...
for her role in ''
An Education
''An Education'' is a 2009 coming-of-age drama film based on a memoir of the same name by British journalist Lynn Barber. The film was directed by Lone Scherfig from a screenplay by Nick Hornby. It stars Carey Mulligan as Jenny, a bright schoolgi ...
'' (2009), which was directed by
Lone Scherfig
Lone Scherfig (; born 2 May 1959) is a Danish film director and screenwriter who has been involved with the Dogme 95 film movement and who has been widely critically acclaimed for several of her movies, including the Oscar-nominated film ''An Ed ...
, also a Danish filmmaker. (Scherfig used to babysit Refn when he was a child, and they have become good friends).
At the time of Mulligan's casting, Refn had not seen ''An Education''. But his wife was a big fan of the film and Mulligan's performance, and she urged him to cast her. In the original script, the character was a Hispanic woman named Irina. The character was changed to Irene after Mulligan was cast; Refn said that he "couldn't find any actress that would click with
impersonally".
While working on the film, Refn had some cast and production members move in temporarily with him, his wife and two daughters in their home in Los Angeles. This included Carey Mulligan
and Hossein Amini, the screenwriter. This enabled them to be immersed in the film. Refn and Amini made significant changes to the original script during this time.
Bryan Cranston
Bryan Lee Cranston (born March 7, 1956) is an American actor and director who is best known for portraying Walter White in the AMC crime drama series ''Breaking Bad'' (2008–2013) and Hal in the Fox sitcom ''Malcolm in the Middle'' (2000� ...
plays the role of Shannon.
Refn knew he wanted to cast Cranston, as he was a fan of his work in the TV series ''
Breaking Bad
''Breaking Bad'' is an American crime drama television series created and produced by Vince Gilligan. Set and filmed in Albuquerque, New Mexico, the series follows Walter White (Bryan Cranston), an underpaid, overqualified, and dispirited hi ...
''. Knowing Cranston had other opportunities, Refn asked the actor how he would like to develop the role. After not hearing back, Refn called him; Cranston was just then writing the pros and cons of doing ''Drive'' for himself. Moved by Refn's interest, Cranston accepted the part.
Christina Hendricks
Christina Rene Hendricks (born May 3, 1975) is an American actress and former model. With an extensive career on screen and stage, she has received various accolades, including six Primetime Emmy Award nominations, two Screen Actors Guild Awar ...
plays the small role of Blanche.
"Trying to work in a more reality arena for a character like that," Refn originally auditioned
porn stars
A pornographic film actor or actress, pornographic performer, adult entertainer, or porn star is a person who performs sex acts in video that is usually characterized as a pornographic movie. Such videos tend to be made in a number of dis ...
for Blanche. He was unable to find anyone with the necessary acting talent. After meeting with Hendricks, he decided to cast her as he felt her persona would click with the character.
Albert Brooks
Albert Brooks (born Albert Lawrence Einstein ; July 22, 1947) is an American actor and filmmaker.
He received an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor for 1987's '' Broadcast News'' and was widely praised for his performance as a ...
plays the foul-mouthed, morose Bernie Rose. When Refn suggested him, Gosling agreed, but thought the actor might not want to play a character who is violent and sullen, or appear in a film that he did not work on himself.
Brooks accepted the role to go against
type, and because he loved that Bernie was not a cliché.
There are six people you could always get to play this kind of part, and I like that the director was thinking outside of the box. For me, it was an opportunity to act outside the box. I liked that this mobster had real style. Also, he doesn't get up in the morning thinking about killing people. He's sad about it. Upset about it. It's a case of, 'Look what you made me do.'
Nino, a key villain, is portrayed by
Ron Perlman, one of the last actors to join the cast. Refn said, "The character of Nino was originally not particularly interesting, so I asked Ron why he wanted to be in my movie when he's done so many great films. When Perlman said, 'I always wanted to play a Jewish man who wants to be an Italian gangster', and I asked why, and he said, 'because that's what I am – a Jewish boy from New York', well, that automatically cemented it for me."
Oscar Isaac portrays a Latino convict named Standard, who is married to Irene and is released from prison a week after Irene meets The Driver. Finding the role somewhat unappealing, he developed the
archetypal
The concept of an archetype (; ) appears in areas relating to behavior, historical psychology, and literary analysis.
An archetype can be any of the following:
# a statement, pattern of behavior, prototype, "first" form, or a main model that ot ...
character into something more.
He said of the role:
As soon as I sat down with Nicolas, he explained this universe and world of the story, so we made the character into someone interested in owning a restaurant, someone who made some wrong decisions in his life, ending up in a bad place. By making 'Standard' more specific and more interesting, we found that it made the story that more compelling.
Filming and cinematography
The film was made on a
production budget of about $15 million and shot in various parts of Los Angeles, beginning on September 25, 2010.
Locations were picked by Refn while Gosling drove him around the city at night. At the director's request, Los Angeles was picked as the shooting location due to budget constraints. Refn moved into a plush Los Angeles home and insisted that the cast members and screenwriter Amini move in with him. They would work on the script and film all day, then watch films, edit, or drive at night.
Refn asked that the
editing suite be placed in his home as well.
With a shooting script of 81 pages, Refn and Gosling continued to trim down dialogue during filming.
The opening chase scene, involving Gosling's character, was filmed primarily by Refn within the car's interior. In an interview, he said he intended for this scene to emulate the feeling of a "diver in an ocean of sharks," and never left the vehicle during the car chase so that the audience can see what's happening from the character's point of view.
Tight on money and time, he shot the scene in two days. With two different set-ups prepared in the car, the director found it difficult to have mobility with the camera, so he would switch the camera to two additional set-ups nearby. As
downtown Los Angeles
Downtown Los Angeles (DTLA) contains the central business district of Los Angeles. In addition, it contains a diverse residential area of some 85,000 people, and covers . A 2013 study found that the district is home to over 500,000 jobs. It is a ...
had been rejuvenated, Refn avoided certain areas to maintain the novel's gloomy atmosphere. The scene was shot at low angles with minimal light.
The elevator sequence was shot without dialogue.
Refn explained:
Before shooting the head-smashing scene, Refn spoke to
Gaspar Noé and asked him how he had done a similar scene in his film ''
Irréversible'' (2002).
Crossing the line from romance to violence, the scene begins with the Driver and Irene kissing tenderly. What they share is really a goodbye kiss. The Driver becomes a kind of "werewolf,"
violently stomping the hit man's head in. Irene sees the Driver in a new light.
Of this scene Refn said:
Every movie has to have a heart – a place where it defines itself – and in every movie I've made there's always a scene that does that. On ''Drive'', it was hard for me to wrap my head around it. I realized I needed to show in one situation that Driver is the hopelessly romantic knight, but he's also completely psychotic and is willing to use any kind of violence to protect innocence. But that scene was never written. As I was going along, it just kind of popped up.
In March 2012, ''Interiors'', an online journal concerned with the relationship between architecture and film, published an issue that discussed how space is used in this scene. The issue highlights Refn's use of constricted space and his way of creating a balance between romance and violence.
Using the
Arri Alexa
The Arri Alexa (stylised as ΛLEXΛ) is a digital motion picture camera system developed by Arri. First introduced in April 2010, the camera was Arri's first major transition into digital cinematography after previous efforts such as the Arri ...
camera, cinematographer
Newton Thomas Sigel shot the film
digitally. According to executive producer David Lancaster, the film has abundant, evocative, intense images of Los Angeles that are not often seen. "From the little seen back streets of downtown LA to the dry arid outposts on the peaks of the desert landscape surrounding it, Siegel has re-imagined an LA all the way down to the rocky cliffs by the sea."
Car scenes were filmed with a "biscuit rig," a camera car rig developed for the film ''
Seabiscuit'' (2003). It allowed stunt driver Robert Nagle to steer the car, freeing Gosling to concentrate on acting. Consistent with Refn's usual visual style,
wide-angle lens
In photography and cinematography, a wide-angle lens refers to a lens whose focal length is substantially smaller than the focal length of a normal lens for a given film plane. This type of lens allows more of the scene to be included in the ph ...
es were used extensively by cinematographer Sigel, who avoided
hand-held camera work.
Preferring to keep the film more "grounded" and authentic, he also avoided the use of
computer-generated imagery
Computer-generated imagery (CGI) is the use of computer graphics to create or contribute to images in art, printed media, video games, simulators, and visual effects in films, television programs, shorts, commercials, and videos. The image ...
(CGI). Budget restrictions were also a factor in this decision.
Although many
stunt drivers
A stunt is an unusual and difficult physical feat or an act requiring a special skill, performed for artistic purposes usually on television, theaters, or cinema. Stunts are a feature of many action films. Before computer generated imagery spec ...
are credited, Gosling did some stunts himself,
after completing a stunt driving car crash course.
During the production, Gosling re-built the 1973
Chevrolet Malibu
The Chevrolet Malibu is a mid-size car manufactured and marketed by Chevrolet from 1964 to 1983 and again since 1997. The Malibu began as a trim-level of the Chevrolet Chevelle, becoming its own model line in 1978. Originally a rear-wheel-driv ...
used in the film, taking it apart and putting it back together.
Filming concluded on November 12, 2010.
Beth Mickle was hired as the film's
production designer on Gosling's recommendation; they had worked together on 2006's ''
Half Nelson
A nelson hold is a grappling hold which is executed by one person from behind the opponent, generally when both are on the mat face down with the opponent under the aggressor. One or both arms are used to encircle the opponent's arm under the armp ...
''. Prior to filming, Mickle supervised a crew of 40, routinely working 16- to 18-hour days. This was her most expensive film to date, and Mickle felt freer since "there was another zero added to the budget," compared to that of ''Half Nelson''.
The crew built the Driver's apartment building, which included a hallway and elevator that linked his unit to Irene's. Mickle also built a strip club set and Bernie Rose's apartment in an abandoned building. Turning a "run-of-the-mill" Los Angeles
auto body shop into a grandiose dealership was one of the most challenging tasks. Painting the walls an electric blue color, she filled the showroom with vintage cars.
While ''Drive'' is set in the present day, it has a 1980s atmosphere, underlined by the vehicles, music, and clothes, and by the architecture. The parts of the city seen in the Valley and near downtown Los Angeles are cheap
stucco and mirrored glass; the film excludes buildings constructed more recently.
Drab background settings include the
Southern California commercial strip
Commercial areas in a city are areas, districts, or neighborhoods primarily composed of commercial buildings, such as a strip mall, office parks, downtown, central business district, financial district, " Main Street", or shopping centers. Com ...
. As the ''
Los Angeles Times'' pointed out, whenever gleaming buildings are shown, it is because they are being seen from a distance. Refn shot those scenes from a helicopter at night in
Bunker Hill, Los Angeles.
Music
Refn chose Johnny Jewel of
Desire and
Chromatics to score the film.
The album consists of songs blended of
electronic
Electronic may refer to:
*Electronics, the science of how to control electric energy in semiconductor
* ''Electronics'' (magazine), a defunct American trade journal
*Electronic storage, the storage of data using an electronic device
*Electronic co ...
,
ambient and
retro music.
Although Jewel's music was used in the score, at the last minute the studio hired composer
Cliff Martinez to imitate the style and feel of Jewel's bands. Refn gave him a sampling of songs he liked and asked Martinez to emulate the sound, resulting in "a kind of
retro
Retro style is imitative or consciously derivative of lifestyles, trends, or art forms from history, including in music, modes, fashions, or attitudes. In popular culture, the "nostalgia cycle" is typically for the two decades that begin 20–30 ...
,
80ish, synthesizer europop". Most of its ethereal
electronic
Electronic may refer to:
*Electronics, the science of how to control electric energy in semiconductor
* ''Electronics'' (magazine), a defunct American trade journal
*Electronic storage, the storage of data using an electronic device
*Electronic co ...
-pop score was composed by Martinez. The score contains tracks with vintage keyboards and bluntly descriptive titles.
''
Drive (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)'' was released on
CD on September 19, 2011, by
Lakeshore Records
Lakeshore Entertainment Group, LLC is an American independent film production, finance, and former international sales and distribution company founded in 1994 by Tom Rosenberg and Ted Tannebaum (1933–2002). Lakeshore Entertainment is headquar ...
.
Prior to that, owing to viral reviews such as those found on
Twitter, the soundtrack sold well on
iTunes
iTunes () is a software program that acts as a media player, media library, mobile device management utility, and the client app for the iTunes Store. Developed by Apple Inc., it is used to purchase, play, download, and organize digital mu ...
, climbing as high as number four on the sales charts. The album was released on vinyl in June 2012, by Mondo. It received positive response and peaked the soundtrack list from ''
Billboard
A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...
'' and
Official Charts Company, while also peaked at 30th position on the US
''Billboard'' 200. A re-scored soundtrack for the film was produced for the BBC by
Zane Lowe
Alexander Zane Reid Lowe (born 7 August 1973) is a New Zealand radio DJ, live DJ, record producer, and television presenter.
After an early career in music creation, production and DJing, he moved to the UK in 1997. He came to prominence thro ...
for its television broadcast in October 2014, which included original music from
Chvrches
Chvrches (stylised CHVRCHΞS and pronounced "Churches") are a Scottish pop band from Glasgow, formed in September 2011. The band consists of Lauren Mayberry, Iain Cook, Martin Doherty and, unofficially since 2018, Jonny Scott. Mostly deriving f ...
,
Banks
A bank is a financial institution that accepts deposits from the public and creates a demand deposit while simultaneously making loans. Lending activities can be directly performed by the bank or indirectly through capital markets.
Because ...
,
Bastille
The Bastille (, ) was a fortress in Paris, known formally as the Bastille Saint-Antoine. It played an important role in the internal conflicts of France and for most of its history was used as a state prison by the kings of France. It was stor ...
,
Eric Prydz,
SBTRKT,
Bring Me the Horizon,
The 1975 and
Laura Mvula
Laura Mvula ( Douglas; born 23 April 1986) is a British singer. A native of Birmingham, England, Mvula has gained experience as a young member or leader of a cappella, jazz/neo-soul and gospel groups and choirs. She was classically trained. ...
.
In September 2016, Lakeshore and Invada Records released a fifth anniversary special edition pressing of the soundtrack, featuring new liner notes and artwork. That same month, Johnny Jewel, College, Electric Youth, and Cliff Martinez discussed the impact of the soundtrack and film on their lives and contemporary music culture. Jewel told Aaron Vehling that ''Drive''s "blend of sonic and visual nostalgia with a contemporary spin is always deadly." The soundtrack was listed on ''Spin'' magazine's list of 40 Movie Soundtracks That Changed Alternative Music.
Release
Prior to beginning
principal photography, Refn went to the
2010 Cannes Film Festival
The 63rd Cannes Film Festival was held from 12 to 23 May 2010, in Cannes, France. The Cannes Film Festival, hailed as being one of the most recognized and prestigious film festivals worldwide, was founded in 1946. It consists of having films scr ...
to sell the rights to ''Drive'' and released promotional posters for the film.
In November 2010, FilmDistrict acquired North American distribution rights.
The owners were so eager to get their hands on ''Drive'', they started negotiating to buy it before seeing any footage, believing it could appeal to people who enjoy a genre movie, as well as the arthouse crowd.
The film had a release date of September 16, 2011, in the United States.
The film premiered on May 20, in competition at the
2011 Cannes Film Festival
The 64th Cannes Film Festival was held from 11 to 22 May 2011. American actor Robert De Niro served as the president of the jury for the main competition and French filmmaker Michel Gondry headed the jury for the short film competition. South Ko ...
.
At its first showing the film received abundant praise and "some of the best responses of the festival," but Xan Brooks of ''
The Guardian'', who gave it a positive review, said it "can't win, won't win" Cannes's top prize.
Brooks explained that "
's too self-consciously retro, too much a series of cool, blank surfaces as opposed to a rounded, textured drama," but said that it was his "guilty pleasure" of the 2011 competition, labeling it an enjoyable affair. He said,
Over the past 10 days we've witnessed great art and potent social commentary; the birth of the cosmos and the end of the world. Turns out what we really wanted all along was a scene in which a man gets his head stomped in a lift. They welcome it in like a long-lost relation.
The film was greeted with hoots and howls of joy from the media, with viewers cheering on some of the scenes featuring extreme violence.
''Drive'' received a 15-minute
standing ovation from the crowd.
The festival awarded Refn
best director Best Director is the name of an award which is presented by various film, television and theatre organizations, festivals, and people's awards. It may refer to:
Film awards
* AACTA Award for Best Direction
* Academy Award for Best Director
* BAF ...
for ''Drive''.
''Drive'' was screened at the
Los Angeles Film Festival (LAFF) on June 20 at its gala screenings program. It was among more than 200 feature films, short projects, and
music videos, from more than 30 countries, to be shown during the festival. After ''
Red Dog''s release date was pushed up by several days, ''Drive'' replaced it as the
Melbourne International Film Festival
The Melbourne International Film Festival (MIFF) is an annual film festival held over three weeks in Melbourne, Australia. It was founded in 1952 and is one of the oldest film festivals in the world following the founding of the Venice Film Fest ...
's closing night film. The film was also screened during
FilmDistrict
FilmDistrict Distribution LLC. was an American independent motion picture company based in Los Angeles. It specialized in acquisitions, distribution, production, and financing. It was founded in September 2010 by Bob Berney and Peter Schlessel in ...
's studio panel presentation at the
San Diego Comic-Con function. A secret screening for ''Drive'' was held at London's Empire Big Screen during the middle of August.
In September, ''Drive'' screened as a special presentation during the
2011 Toronto International Film Festival
The 36th annual Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) was held in Toronto, Ontario, Canada between September 8 and September 18, 2011.
Buenos Aires, Argentina was selected to be showcased for the 2011 City to City programme. The opening film ...
, alongside another film starring Gosling, ''
The Ides of March''.
Reception
Critical response
Review aggregator
Rotten Tomatoes reports an approval rating of 93% based on 270 reviews, and an average rating of 8.30/10. The site's critical consensus states, "With its hyper-stylized blend of violence, music, and striking imagery, ''Drive'' represents a fully realized vision of
arthouse action."
Metacritic, another review aggregator, gave it a score of 78 out of 100, based on 43 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".
It was one of the highest-ranked, and most-featured, films on critics' year-end top 10 lists. It ranked as fourth-best film of the year, behind ''
The Tree of Life'', ''
The Artist'', and ''
Melancholia'' on Metacritic's tally of top 10 lists. ''Drive'' was picked as the best film of the year by:
Peter Travers
Peter Joseph Travers (born ) is an American film critic, journalist, and television presenter. He reviews films for ABC News and previously served as a movie critic for ''People'' and ''Rolling Stone''. Travers also hosts the film interview prog ...
of ''
Rolling Stone'',
Richard Roeper of the ''
Chicago Sun-Times
The ''Chicago Sun-Times'' is a daily newspaper published in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Since 2022, it is the flagship paper of Chicago Public Media, and has the second largest circulation among Chicago newspapers, after the '' Chicag ...
'', James Rocchi of ''
BoxOffice
''Boxoffice Pro'' is a film industry magazine dedicated to the movie theatre business published by BoxOffice Media LP.
History
It started in 1920 as ''The Reel Journal'', taking the name ''Boxoffice'' in 1931 and still publishes today, with ...
'', Joshua Rothkopf of
''Time Out'' (New York),
Neil Miller of
Film School Rejects
Film School Rejects is an American blog devoted to movie reviews, interviews, film industry news, and feature commentary. It was founded by Neil Miller in February 2006.
The site was nominated for Best News Blog by ''Total Film'' magazine and n ...
, Mark Russell of ''
The Oregonian'', and a staff critic from ''
Empire
An empire is a "political unit" made up of several territories and peoples, "usually created by conquest, and divided between a dominant center and subordinate peripheries". The center of the empire (sometimes referred to as the metropole) ex ...
'' magazine.
The writers for the film magazine ''
Empire
An empire is a "political unit" made up of several territories and peoples, "usually created by conquest, and divided between a dominant center and subordinate peripheries". The center of the empire (sometimes referred to as the metropole) ex ...
'' listed ''Drive'' as their number one film of 2011.
Peter Travers
Peter Joseph Travers (born ) is an American film critic, journalist, and television presenter. He reviews films for ABC News and previously served as a movie critic for ''People'' and ''Rolling Stone''. Travers also hosts the film interview prog ...
of ''
Rolling Stone'' gave the film 4 out of 4 stars, declaring that ''Drive'' was "a brilliant piece of nasty business," and that "Refn is a virtuoso, blending tough and tender with such uncanny skill that he deservedly won the Best Director prize at Cannes." Travers also said, "Prepare to be blown away by Albert Brooks. Brooks' performance, veined with dark humor and chilling menace (watch him with a blade), deserves to have
Oscar
Oscar, OSCAR, or The Oscar may refer to:
People
* Oscar (given name), an Irish- and English-language name also used in other languages; the article includes the names Oskar, Oskari, Oszkár, Óscar, and other forms.
* Oscar (Irish mythology), ...
calling."
''
The Wall Street Journal''s
Joe Morgenstern
Joe Morgenstern (born October 3, 1932) is an American writer and retired film critic. He wrote for ''Newsweek'' from 1965 to 1983, and then for ''The Wall Street Journal'' from 1995 to 2022. He won the Pulitzer Prize for Criticism in 2005. Morgen ...
also praised Brooks's performance, calling his villainous performance "sensational."
James Rocchi of ''
The Playlist
''The Playlist'' is a British children's entertainment and music series presented by guest presenters, produced by Strawberry Blond TV for CBBC and first aired on 22 April 2017 and ended on 12 March 2022. The first series was narrated by Sco ...
'' gave the film an "A" letter grade, and wrote that "''Drive'' works as a great demonstration of how, when there's true talent behind the camera, entertainment and art are not enemies but allies." Rocchi placed ''Drive'' as his number one film of 2011.
''
Movieline''s
Stephanie Zacharek rated the film 9.5 out of 10, complimenting the film's action and writing that it "defies all the current trends in mainstream action filmmaking. The driving sequences are shot and edited with a surgeon's clarity and precision. Refn doesn't chop up the action to fool us into thinking it's more exciting than it is." She also admired Refn's skill in handling the film's violence, and the understated romance between Gosling and Mulligan. ''Drive'' was
Roger Ebert
Roger Joseph Ebert (; June 18, 1942 – April 4, 2013) was an American film critic, film historian, journalist, screenwriter, and author. He was a film critic for the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' from 1967 until his death in 2013. In 1975, Ebert beca ...
's seventh best film of 2011. In praising the film, he wrote, "Here is a movie with respect for writing, acting, and craft. It has respect for knowledgeable moviegoers." Like Zacharek, Ebert admired the film's action sequences, which were practically made and did not rely on CGI effects.
Anthony Lane
Anthony Lane is a British journalist who is a film critic for ''The New Yorker'' magazine.
Career Education and early career
Lane attended Sherborne School and graduated with a degree in English from Trinity College, Cambridge, where he also ...
wrote in ''
The New Yorker'' that ''Drive''s violence was far too graphic, and this ultimately was a detriment to the film. Referring to the violence, he said, "In grabbing our attention, he diverts it from what matters. The horror lingers and seeps; the feelings are sponged away."
Michael Philips of the ''
Chicago Tribune'' felt similarly, and said that although he enjoyed the film in the early sections, it became "one garishly sadistic set piece after another". Phillips thought the film relied too much on "stylistic preening" and did not have enough substance.
In 2014, ''
The Huffington Post'' included ''Drive'' on its list of 8 Movies From The Last 15 Years That Are Super Overrated, with Bill Bradley criticizing the low amount of dialogue by Gosling's character and writing that "Refn spends all 100 minutes trying to convince you that he has a cool iPod playlist."
''
Complex
Complex commonly refers to:
* Complexity, the behaviour of a system whose components interact in multiple ways so possible interactions are difficult to describe
** Complex system, a system composed of many components which may interact with each ...
'' magazine criticized the film for
whitewashing the character of Irene, who was a Latina in the source novel.
Audiences polled by
CinemaScore
CinemaScore is a market research firm based in Las Vegas. It surveys film audiences to rate their viewing experiences with letter grades, reports the results, and forecasts box office receipts based on the data.
Background
Ed Mintz founded Ci ...
gave the film a score of "C−"; this was attributed to audiences feeling tricked, having expected more driving action based on the marketing.
Style and inspiration
Andrew O'Hehir of ''
Salon'' magazine described ''Drive'' as a "classic Los Angeles heist-gone-wrong story," that "isn't trying to outdo ''
Bullitt
''Bullitt'' is a 1968 American neo-noir action thriller film directed by Peter Yates and produced by Philip D'Antoni. The picture stars Steve McQueen, Robert Vaughn, and Jacqueline Bisset. The screenplay by Alan Trustman, Alan R. Trustman and H ...
'' or get the next assignment in
''The Fast and the Furious'' franchise". O'Hehir also described homages to "
Roger Corman
Roger William Corman (born April 5, 1926) is an American film director, producer, and actor. He has been called "The Pope of Pop Cinema" and is known as a trailblazer in the world of independent film. Many of Corman's films are based on works t ...
's
B-movie
A B movie or B film is a low-budget commercial motion picture. In its original usage, during the Golden Age of Hollywood, the term more precisely identified films intended for distribution as the less-publicized bottom half of a double featu ...
aesthetic and the glossy Hollywood spectacles of
Michael Mann".
Steven Zeitchik of the ''
Los Angeles Times'' examined themes in the characters of "loyalty, loneliness and the dark impulses that rise up even when we try our hardest to suppress them".
''
Reuters'' Nick Vinocur described a series of comic gore, resulting in "a bizarre concoction ... reminiscent of
David Lynch
David Keith Lynch (born January 20, 1946) is an American filmmaker, visual artist and actor. A recipient of an Academy Honorary Award in 2019, Lynch has received three Academy Award nominations for Best Director, and the César Award for Be ...
's ''
Mulholland Drive'' ...
Quentin Tarantino's ''
Pulp Fiction
''Pulp Fiction'' is a 1994 American crime film written and directed by Quentin Tarantino, who conceived it with Roger Avary.See, e.g., King (2002), pp. 185–7; ; Starring John Travolta, Samuel L. Jackson, Bruce Willis, Tim Roth, Ving Rham ...
'', and
ith
The Ith () is a ridge in Germany's Central Uplands which is up to 439 m high. It lies about 40 km southwest of Hanover and, at 22 kilometres, is the longest line of crags in North Germany.
Geography
Location
The Ith is immediate ...
angst-laden love scenes that would not be out of place in a Scandinavian drama".
Christopher Hawthorne, also from the ''Los Angeles Times'', has compared it to the works of
Walter Hill
Walter may refer to:
People
* Walter (name), both a surname and a given name
* Little Walter, American blues harmonica player Marion Walter Jacobs (1930–1968)
* Gunther (wrestler), Austrian professional wrestler and trainer Walter Hahn (born 19 ...
,
John Carpenter,
Nathanael West
Nathanael West (born Nathan Weinstein; October 17, 1903 – December 22, 1940) was an American writer and screenwriter. He is remembered for two darkly satirical novels: ''Miss Lonelyhearts'' (1933) and '' The Day of the Locust'' (1939), set r ...
,
J. G. Ballard, and
Mike Davis.
According to Refn, ''Drive'' is dedicated to filmmaker
Alejandro Jodorowsky
Alejandro Jodorowsky Prullansky (; born 17 February 1929) is a Chilean-French avant-garde filmmaker.
Best known for his 1970s films ''El Topo'' and '' The Holy Mountain'', Jodorowsky has been "venerated by cult cinema enthusiasts" for his work ...
and includes shades of Jodorowsky's existentialism.
''Drive'' has been described as a tough, hard-edged,
neo-noir
Neo-noir is a revival of film noir, a genre that had originally flourished during the post-World War II era in the United Statesroughly from 1940 to 1960. The French term, ''film noir'', translates literally to English as "black film", indicating s ...
,
art house feature,
extremely violent and very stylish, with European art and
grindhouse influences.
''Drive'' also refers to 1970s and 1980s
cult hits such as ''
The Day of the Locust'' (1975)
and ''
To Live and Die in L.A.'' (1985). Other influences can be seen in the neon-bright opening credits and the retro song picks"a mix of tension-ratcheting synthesizer tones and catchy club anthems that collectively give the film its consistent tone".
''Drive''s
title sequence is hot-pink,
which was inspired by ''
Risky Business'' (1983).
Refn has also indicated that the film's romance was partly inspired by the films of writer-director
John Hughes.
Refn's inspiration for ''Drive'' came partly from reading ''
Grimms' Fairy Tales'', and his goal was to make "a fairy tale that takes Los Angeles as the background,"
with The Driver as the hero. To play with the common theme of fairy tales, The Driver protects what is good while at the same time killing degenerate people in violent ways.
Refn said ''Drive'' turns into a
superhero film during the elevator scene when The Driver kills the villain.
The director said he was also inspired by films such as ''
Point Blank'' (1967), ''
Two-Lane Blacktop
''Two-Lane Blacktop'' is a 1971 American road movie directed by Monte Hellman, written by Rudy Wurlitzer and starring songwriter James Taylor, the Beach Boys drummer Dennis Wilson, Warren Oates, and Laurie Bird.
Plot
Two street racers, t ...
'' (1971), ''
The Driver
''The Driver'' is a 1978 American neo-noir crime thriller film written and directed by Walter Hill. It stars Ryan O'Neal, Bruce Dern, and Isabelle Adjani. O'Neal is the getaway driver for robberies whose exceptional talent has prevented him bein ...
'' (1978), and ''
Thief
Theft is the act of taking another person's property or services without that person's permission or consent with the intent to deprive the rightful owner of it. The word ''theft'' is also used as a synonym or informal shorthand term for some ...
'' (1981).
Jean-Pierre Melville's crime productions influenced the cinematography.
Amini's script imposes "a kind of sideways
moral code
Morality () is the differentiation of intentions, decisions and actions between those that are distinguished as proper (right) and those that are improper (wrong). Morality can be a body of standards or principles derived from a code of cond ...
," where even those who comply with it are almost never rewarded for their efforts, as seen when The Driver helps Standard because of concern for Irene and her son.
In their vehicles, the characters not only make escapes or commit murder, but try to find peace and search for romance.
The Driver has been compared to
the Man With No Name
The Man with No Name ( it, Uomo senza nome) is the antihero character portrayed by Clint Eastwood in Sergio Leone's "''Dollars Trilogy''" of Italian Spaghetti Western films: ''A Fistful of Dollars'' (1964), ''For a Few Dollars More'' (1965), ...
, a character
Clint Eastwood
Clinton Eastwood Jr. (born May 31, 1930) is an American actor and film director. After achieving success in the Western TV series '' Rawhide'', he rose to international fame with his role as the "Man with No Name" in Sergio Leone's "''Dolla ...
portrayed in the
Sergio Leone
Sergio Leone (; 3 January 1929 – 30 April 1989) was an Italian film director, producer and screenwriter credited as the pioneer of the Spaghetti Western genre and widely regarded as one of the most influential directors in the history of cine ...
western
Western may refer to:
Places
*Western, Nebraska, a village in the US
*Western, New York, a town in the US
*Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia
*Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia
*Western world, countries that id ...
, because he almost never speaks, communicating mostly non-verbally.
The Driver's meager dialogue is not designed to present him as tough, but to soften him. Refn chose to give The Driver very little dialogue and have him drive around listening to
synth-pop music, taking control when it counts.
Peter Debruge of ''
Variety'' opined that what The Driver lacks in psychology, he makes up through action and stylish costuming.
The Driver's wardrobe, in particular the satin jacket with the logo of a golden scorpion on the back, was inspired by the band
KISS, and
Kenneth Anger
Kenneth Anger (born Kenneth Wilbur Anglemyer, February 3, 1927) is an American underground experimental filmmaker, actor, and author. Working exclusively in short films, he has produced almost 40 works since 1937, nine of which have been grouped ...
's 1964
experimental film ''
Scorpio Rising''.
Refn sees the former as the character's armor, and the logo as a sign of protection.
According to reviewer Peter Canavese, the jacket is a reference to the fable of
The Scorpion and the Frog, mentioned in the film, which evokes its use in the
Orson Welles film ''
Mr. Arkadin
''Mr. Arkadin'' (first released in Spain, 1955), known in Britain as ''Confidential Report'', is a French-Spanish-Swiss coproduction film, written and directed by Orson Welles and shot in several Spanish locations, including Costa Brava, Segovi ...
''.
Drive would later serve as a major influence for many elements of the 2012 game
Hotline Miami
''Hotline Miami'' is a top-down shooter video game by Jonatan Söderström and Dennis Wedin, collectively known as Dennaton Games. The game was published by Devolver Digital and released on 23 October 2012 for Microsoft Windows.
Set in 1989 ...
, including the minimalist plot, use of dialogue, portrayal of violence and musical style.
Box office
''Drive'' grossed $78.1–81.4 million worldwide.
In North America, the film grossed a total of $35.1 million.
The film opened in North America earning $11.3 million on the weekend of September 16, 2011, and played at 2,866 theaters. Audiences polled by
CinemaScore
CinemaScore is a market research firm based in Las Vegas. It surveys film audiences to rate their viewing experiences with letter grades, reports the results, and forecasts box office receipts based on the data.
Background
Ed Mintz founded Ci ...
gave the film an average grade of "C−" on an A+ to F scale.
It was one of four wide releases that opened that weekend, and came in second. The other three new releases included the re-release of ''
The Lion King
''The Lion King'' is a 1994 American Animated film, animated Musical film, musical drama film produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios, Walt Disney Feature Animation and released by Walt Disney Pictures. The 32nd List of Walt Disney Animati ...
'' on 3D, which was the top film, along with the ''
Straw Dogs'' remake and the romantic comedy ''
I Don't Know How She Does It
''I Don't Know How She Does It'' is a 2011 American comedy film based on Allison Pearson's 2002 novel of the same name. Directed by Douglas McGrath, the film stars Sarah Jessica Parker, Pierce Brosnan and Greg Kinnear.
The film was released on Se ...
''. The film closed its North American theatrical run on February 9, 2012.
In the international marketplace, ''Drive'' grossed $41.1–46.3 million. The film had its highest-grossing box office in France, where it earned a total of €10.3 million ($13.3 million).
It opened in France on the weekend of October 5, 2011, at 246 theaters, eventually expanding to 360. The film opened in second place and had the highest per-screen theater gross for the weekend €10,722 ($13,746).
Its second-highest overseas gross came in the United Kingdom, where it earned a total of £3.1 million ($4.6 million).
''Drive'' opened in the United Kingdom on September 27, 2011, at 176 theaters, eventually expanding to 190.
The film opened in Australia on October 27, 2011, and grossed a total of $2.3 million in the country.
Accolades
''Drive'' was nominated for four
British Academy Film Awards
The British Academy Film Awards, more commonly known as the BAFTA Film Awards is an annual award show hosted by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) to honour the best British and international contributions to film. The cer ...
, which included
Best Film
This is a list of categories of awards commonly awarded through organizations that bestow film awards, including those presented by various film, festivals, and people's awards.
Best Actor/Best Actress
*See Best Actor#Film awards, Best Actress#F ...
,
Best Direction
The MTV Video Music Award for Best Direction is an award given to the artist, the artist's manager, and the director of the music video. From 1984 to 2006, the full name of the award was Best Direction in a Video, and in 2007, it was briefly rename ...
,
Best Actress in a Supporting Role (Carey Mulligan), and
Best Editing. It was one of the most-nominated films by critics' groups in 2011.
Albert Brooks had the most critics' groups nominations.
Refn won the
Best Director Award at the
64th Cannes Film Festival
The 64th Cannes Film Festival was held from 11 to 22 May 2011. American actor Robert De Niro served as the president of the jury for the main competition and French filmmaker Michel Gondry headed the jury for the short film competition. South Ko ...
. The film also received an
Academy Award
The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...
nomination for
Best Sound Editing.
See also
*
Heist film
The heist film or caper film is a subgenre of crime film focused on the planning, execution, and aftermath of a significant robbery.
One of the early defining heist films was ''The Asphalt Jungle'' (1950), which ''Film Genre 2000'' wrote "almos ...
s
References
External links
*
*
*
*
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Drive
2011 films
2011 action drama films
2011 crime drama films
2011 crime thriller films
2011 independent films
2011 thriller drama films
2010s chase films
2010s heist films
American action drama films
American chase films
American crime drama films
American crime thriller films
American gangster films
American heist films
American independent films
American neo-noir films
American thriller drama films
Bold Films films
FilmDistrict films
Films about automobiles
Films about stunt performers
Films about the American Mafia
Films based on American novels
Films directed by Nicolas Winding Refn
Films produced by Marc E. Platt
Films scored by Cliff Martinez
Films set in Los Angeles
Films shot in Los Angeles
Films with screenplays by Hossein Amini
Odd Lot Entertainment films
2010s English-language films
2010s American films
Postmodern films