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Three things jumped at me when I watched the movie Drive, by little-known Danish director Refn. First, Ryan Gosling’s performance is amazing. Second, the 80’s-style new-retro soundtrack is also amazing. Third, each shot is beautifully framed, and amazing too.

I was putting off watching that movie for the longest time, ignoring the critics' praises, since for some reason I kind of dislike Gosling. Also, I knew that the trailers were not representative of the movie and that it wasn’t a “Fast and Furious” kind of action movie, but then that made me even more cautious since I didn’t knew what to expect either.

In the end, it is an action-thriller with a few car chases here and there but with a lot of other action scenes too. As a warning, some of the action is quite brutal, and even if I was warned about it I was still shocked. Yet, it is rare to see such a kind of action movie with such a great direction and acting. The acting direction is excellent, making each actor greatly contrast each other. At the central point, Gosling’s character is mostly stoic, yet he does so not out of bad acting but by acting out of amazing subtlety. As I mentioned earlier, each shot is amazingly beautiful, in the palette of colors, the framing, and the near-perfect camera control. Oh, and the eclectic 80s soundtrack fits perfectly and will move you.

So, go watch it. That movie actually deserves more hype.