Zack Handlen Falling in love is about finding someone you can’t stop looking at. That’s one of the reasons we so often get it confused with pure physical attractiveness, I think, because both start from that same point of fascination. And it may be why we so readily become infatuated with movie stars; when the movies do their jobs right, the stars have all the surface qualities we yearn for, and we bring our own depth. I’m not sure if I can pinpoint exactly what the difference is between attraction and love, but it must be something to do with the expression on our faces as we stare, transfixed. In lust, our faces go blank, as a purely animal need consumes us. But when we’re in love, first tipping and then falling, there’s a reflex spasm at the corners of your mouth, and you just can’t stop smiling. Drive is, by design, a movie of surfaces, and for those on its particular wavelength, it’s all the more affecting because of that deeply felt shallowness, the way it strips down a complicated plot so that the most basic moments resonate. Like, say, a romance. Ryan Gosling and Carey Mulligan are good-looking, and in the logic of movies like this, of course they’re going to be drawn to each other. But Drive makes this work by showing time and again how Gosling and Mulligan can’t stop watching each other, and the way they can’t help grinning at what they see. It’s simplicity done right, and it means that when the movie turns violent, we know exactly how much is at stake.
Posted on: Mon, 21 Oct 2013 06:40:25 +0000
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