The Driver
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Movie Reviews of The Driver
Movie Review: Little Dialogue. Lots of Charisma.
Summary: 4 Stars
Catching the best getaway car driver-for-hire in Los Angeles has become one police Detective's (Bruce Dern) obsession. The daredevil Driver (Ryan O'Neal) has persistently outrun and out-maneuvered the police, and they find their best witness (Isabelle Adjani) mysteriously unwilling to identify him. The Detective knows who The Driver is. He just can't get anything on him. Frustrated, he tries spilling hot coffee on his quarry in an attempt to provoke him. When that doesn't work, The Detective devises a more sophisticated plan: He pressures a hold-up man into setting The Driver up in a bank heist job.
Characters in "The Driver" don't have names. At least not that we know of. This self-consciously hip 1978 neo-noir written and directed by Walter Hill is an exercise in "cool". Dialogue is sparse, conversations unnatural, and driving is fetishized. There are two 6-minute car chases. Not to mention the systematic dismemberment of an orange Mercedes by means of a parking garage. The budget must have been small, as there are no changes of wardrobe. But "The Driver" is entertaining, nicely paced, and "noir" in its outlook. The Driver is a handsome, laconic anti-hero who seems more honorable than the lawman who pursues him. The Detective is a cocksure egomaniac concerned more with the thrill of the "game" than with the law. But there is no honor among thieves or among cops here.
The DVD (20th Century Fox 2005): This is a 2-sided disc with a full screen version on Side A and widescreen version on the flipside. The only bonus feature is an "Alternate Beginning", in which The Connection explains to The Player (Adjani) her role in the casino heist, and The Detective's dissenting colleague is introduced as the "new man", to whom the Detective takes an immediate dislike. This is unnecessary exposition that did not make the final cut. Subtitles are available for the film in English and Spanish. Dubbing available in French.
Movie Review: Finally on DVD! Too bad the longer version isn't included.
Summary: 4 Stars
In the late `70s and early `80s Walter Hill was one of the best action/thriller directors. Like Don Siegel and Sam Peckinpah before him, Hill made lean, gritty no-nonsense genre pictures like The Warriors, Southern Comfort and 48HRS. He understands that what drives an action film is visual storytelling through kinetic editing. This is what propels his under-appreciated movie, The Driver that is finally seeing its debut on DVD.
The near dialogue-less opening heist/getaway sequence foreshadows the same kind of approach Michael Mann would later apply to his own urban crime thrillers, most notably, Thief, which owes a huge debt to The Driver in terms of style and attitude. The first car chase, where the Driver evades several police cars through city streets at night is the epitome of stylistic economy. There is no CGI, no special effects; just judicious use of editing and letting the action tell the story.
Hill employs a classic, no frills style of filmmaking that is almost non-existent in today's climate which is all about music video style and editing (which he dabbled with in Streets of Fire). He doesn't feel the need to spell things out through dialogue or providing unnecessary back stories. It's not important where this guy came from or that we even like him. This movie is a battle of wills between the Driver and the Detective.
There is a three-minute "Alternate Beginning" which establishes, early on, the detective's work philosophy and also the two women in the Driver's life. This prologue originally aired on television.
Also included is a theatrical trailer.
Sadly, Fox has not included the 135 minute version that was shown at Los Angeles's American Cinemateque, which apparently included more car chases.
Movie Review: DECENT CRIME FILM NOIR
Summary: 4 Stars
I SAW THIS FILM WHEN IT WAS FIRST RELEASED IN 1978 OR 1979 AND THOUGHT IT WAS A PRETTY DECENT CRIME FILM. IT KEEPS YOUR INTEREST LONG ENOUGH FROM BEGINNING TO END, BUT I SAW THE 91 MINUTE VERSION, NOT THE 131 MINUTE VERSION SHOWN IN THE U.K. THAT IS SAID TO INCLUDE A BIT MORE DETAIL ON CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT AND HAVE MORE EXCITING CAR CHASES.
HOWEVER, THE PLOT, AS IT WAS, INVOLVED RYAN O'NEAL AS AN OUTCAST ANTI-SOCIAL TYPE WHO RELUCTANTLY PURSUES A RISKY CAREER AS A GET-AWAY DRIVER FOR HARD CORE CRIMINALS, SUCH AS BANK ROBBERS, GAMBLING DEN HOLD-UP MEN, JEWEL HEISTS, ETC. HE STARTS TO DEVELOP A LOVE INTEREST WITH A MYSTERIOUS BEAUTY WHICH DOESN'T SEEM TO GO TOO FAR BEYOND CASUAL SEX. THE LOCAL COPS, SOME WHO ARE ROGUE, AND VARIOUS OTHER LOCAL HOODS, TRY TO SQUEEZE O'NEAL FOR PAYOFFS AND INFORMATION AND TO TURN INTO STOOLIE, LEANING ON HIM IN A HEAVY WAY, SO WHEN HE'S NOT DRIVING A GET-AWY CAR OR INVOLVED IN EXCITING CAR CHASES, HE'S BEING HOUNDED BY OTHER NEFARIOUS CHARACTERS.
I DOUBT SEEING THE 131 MINUTE VERSION OF THIS FILM WOULD HAVE BEEN THAT MUCH OF A BENEFIT SINCE THE 9I MINUTE U.S. THEATERICAL RELEASE SEEMED TO OFFER JUST ENOUGH INTERESTING ASPECTS THAT COULD CARRY A FILM FOR 91 MINUTES, LET ALONE 131 MINUTES. BUT WHO KNOWS, IF THE 131 MINUTE VERSION BECOMES AVAILABLE IN THE U.S., I'D LIKE TO SE IT AND COMPARE IT WITH THE 91 MINUTE VERSION. YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT AN EXTENDED VERSION THAT IS ABOUT 40 MINUTES LONGER THAN THE ORIGINAL U.S. RELEASE, WHICH IS LONG FOR A FILM. HOW MANY MORE CAR CHASES CAN WE WATCH BEFORE WE BECOME BORED WITH IT? I'D SAY IT'S SAFER TO STAY WITH THE 91 MINUTE VERSION.
Movie Review: No Names Please!,
Summary: 4 Stars
There is no baloney in this surprisingly good movie (it's not well-known). It also the sports a real oddity: no one's name is mentioned in the entire film! Try to think of any other film you've ever seen where this is the case.
Why 'The Driver" is not better known is a mystery since the director (Walter Hill) and main actors (Ryan O'Neal and Bruce Dern) are known entities.
Maybe because Ryan, who people think of more as the likable male in the immensely popular "Love Story" plays against type, playing an ultra-serious criminal. Make no mistake: he does it well. He is a man of few words in this movie and he handles that in a fascinating manner. Dern is always interesting. Isabelle Adjani, more famous as a French actress, is nice to ogle and she, too, doesn't say much in this film.
The rest of the characters in this modern-day film noir ("neo noir") are a bunch of low-lifes. If you like film noir and particularly if you like car-chase scenes, well, this movie is must-have, because there are several intense chase scenes in here and they are long. They're also well-photographed, fun to watch and certainly keep your attention.
Nice to see this movie released on widescreen DVD. The transfer isn't that sharp, though, but it's inexpensive and worth the money.
Movie Review: Terrible but Great movie ??????
Summary: 4 Stars
Yeah, yeah - What is that supposed to mean? I honestly love this bad movie. Just because Bruce Dern has these terrible lines like "Cowboy, Desperado" that he [aims] at Ryan O'Neal, "The Driver" - who is hired out by bad guys for getaways from crime scenes (guess that goes without saying).
The plot was really far-fetched. I mean a cop making a deal with bad guys (three real bumbling clowns) to rob a bank so that he can catch "Driver" - Ryan O'Neal. But darn it, the hokey lines that Bruce Dern exchanges with one of his "understudy's" (Matt Clark) and O'Neal are really outrageous.
I must add that the car chases were NOT that great. Really. Nothing can compare to "Bullitt." Even "The Seven-Ups" car chase was better than the ones in this movie.
Again, I must say that only for the acting of Bruce Dern, this movie would fall flat on its face. Isabelle Adjani really brings home some dead-pan acting. Absolutely emotionless. And Ryan O'Neal's acting isn't much more emotional, either. But all this adds up to a really cool movie. Why? I still don't know.