Well, the plot is not as inherently disturbing as Vachss stories are. But Gosling's character reminded me a lot of his. The comparisons I've seen to Eastwood in the Leone movies are about right, too. This isn't a guy you're meant to relate to.

So Beau and I saw "Drive" last night and I liked it more than he did. He really didn't like the film at all, I'm kind of meh. The best part of the movie (it seems to me) is the first 10-15 minutes. After that, I feel like the movie got caught up in its own pretentions.

It is a violent film and I think at one point I actually said "ick" out loud in the theater.

The movie reminds me of a Michael Mann film from the 1980s. It is minimalist in some ways (until you get to the gore!) and I don't think Beau likes that style of acting. He felt that Ryan Reynolds could not act (which is not a true statement of course), but I don't think he liked his direction. Beau much preferred Albert Brooks' acting.

I agree with Strega that it probably helps to like crime fiction (which is what I read and watch 80% of the time), but still, I would have preferred more information about Reynolds' character's motivation. He seemed cunning on the one hand, but on the other hand, he displayed great naïvete and/or arrogance and for the life of me I couldn't understand why. Some light spoilers:

it is possible that I have watched too many heist movies, but I was kind of shocked at the extent to which he hadn't seemed to think that other people's planning was sufficient for the job. When he did his own, he was on point, but relying on other people like that without checking things out is a problem.

The movie reminds me of a Michael Mann film from the 1980s.

Like, Thief?

Just saw "A Pain in the Ass" on on-demand. Hilarious film (French with subtitles - I don't speak French and I still wonder why someone translated "Mierde, Mierde, Mierde" as "Damn, Damn, Damn". )

It should be. It's by the same guy who did La Cage aux folles, Le Dîner de cons (The Dinner Game), and Le Placard (The Closet), among others. You can always tell a Veber film because the loser lead is usually named François Pignon. Note: A Pain in the Ass is actually Veber remaking his own work. (Attention Hec!) The original L'emmerdeur starred Jacques Brel as Pignon.

BTW, merde is best translated as damn. It's a mild swear word; hence its acceptable use for "good luck" or "break a leg" in the theater.

I would have preferred more information about Reynolds' character's motivation.

For something in particular? I don't think he particularly wants anything for much of the movie.

re the whitefont: Well, for the second job, they certainly weren't going to tell him anything, much less care if he approved. But I would imagine he's always like that, because he doesn't want to be involved. He's just an independent contractor.

Reynolds or Gosling? Am confuse.

Ha, I didn't even register that. Gosling.

That reminds me of the Videogum fake interview with Gosling.

VG: It’s just really cool that Ryan Reynolds thinks I’m cool.
RG: Did you just call me Ryan Reynolds?
VG: Absolutely not. I would never do that.
RG: I think you did.
VG: If I called you Ryan Reynolds I would kill myself.
RG: That seems like a bit much.

[link]

Interesting. So even though literally "shit" the impact is more like "damn".

BTW, if I want to track down the original was it also called "A pain in the ass" not that Brel won't be enough to let me google and IMDB it, but if anyone knows offhand without needing to look it up...

Interesting. So even though literally "shit" the impact is more like "damn".

See also "Bugger". Actually, come to think of it, that does translate at both levels to "a pain in the arse".

megan, correct me if I'm wrong, but aren't "con" and all its derivatives also much milder in French than their literal translations?