DRIVE Soundtrack Is An iTunes Hit

DRIVE is a stylish new film starring Ryan Gosling as a stunt car/getaway driver opened this weekend to great critical acclaim.  I saw it this weekend and have to say it is one of the most cinematic movies of the year.  The director, Danish auteur Nicholas Winding Refn, knows how to create some beautiful images and truly creates a mood reminiscent of a Miami Vice episode or a Michael Mann movie, with a sleek 80s vibe.

A great deal of that vibe comes from the film's soundtrack which, not surprisingly, is doing even better than the film.  The movie opened in the number 7 position on the Box Office charts while the soundtrack shot to number 5 on iTunes.  The album has a mix of some great new songs, along with scoring by Cliff Martinez that sounds like an update of Tangerine Dream, who did the memorable score for RISKY BUSINESS.

Unfortunately (or fortunately), I think I like the music is better than the actual movie, which sorta fell apart about halfway through due to a weak screenplay.  But it's great to see audiences embracing a film which is moody, interesting and a real, old-fashioned movie in that it tells its story visually and with a certain, deliberate pace rare in the Hollywood hyper-editing we've grown accustomed in the post-Michael Bay world. And Ryan Gosling is an actor who can definitely keep your attention, even when he's doing nothing but chewing a toothpick.