Drive

Plot Synopsis: A  mysterious Hollywood stuntman, mechanic and getaway driver lands himself in trouble when he helps out his neighbour.

  Ok so this is a weird film.  Its about a guy named Driver, I say that because they never give his name, they just call him the driver.  He's played, very effectively I might add by Ryan Gosling.  So Driver is a loner who fixes cars at an auto body shop, works as a stunt driver in Hollywood, and moonlights as a getaway driver.  Busy guy.  He doesn't talk much, in fact maybe he only says 15 sentences in the whole film, I am assuming he doesn't talk as he is tired from working so many different jobs.  So he meets his neighbor and her young son and starts falling for her, or something, its unclear why a non caring loner would suddenly bond/fall for a girl and her kid who he just met 2 days prior.  Anyway the girl's husband get out of jail and is being forced to pull a robbery.  Driver helps him, but things go wrong.  That's where the film changes gears, literally.
  See the first 45 minutes of this film is like watching an art house film.  Mostly music with very little dialogue.  After the robbery goes wrong it turns into a 70's style exploitation flick.  Very bloody and violent.  Very cool as well.  It features a great cast.  Albert Brooks steps away from comedy to play a crime boss, and the always great Ron Pearlman plays his crazy partner.  Gosling is very believable as a bad ass driver, who has no problems beating you to death when he needs to. 
  However there are a few questions.  The main one, like I mentioned before, is why would a guy with no feelings fall for someone he just met.  Its not like the girl was hot.  I found her quite ugly to be honest with you, but at least she had nicer eyebrows than the Abduction girl.  And there is a long scene where Gosling puts on a mask and begins stalking Ron Pearlman.  I understand you would wear a mask to cover your identity, but he left on his white satin coat with a giant gold scorpion on the back on.  Couldn't he be identified by that?  Also he never wore a mask during any of the robbery's he drove for.  I know for a fact there are street cameras all over LA.  Why was he never caught?
  Silly things like that aside, this was probably the best film of 2011.  Like I said its a combination of art house, and exploitation that surprisingly works wonderfully.  However it is not for everyone.  I have recommended it to at least 12 people.  Only one liked it.  It's very different which I liked, as I am sick of the remake trend, and very well filmed and acted.  Check it out, and watch it twice if you don't like it the first time.

Overall 4 out of 5 Stars!