Drive
Existential antiheroes aren’t dangerous because they don’t believe, but rather because they might start. Scary intensity waiting to be awakened is at the crux of Nicolas Winding Refn’s spectacular drama, full of graphic-comics violence, in which a taciturn stuntman, racer and getaway-driver-for-hire (Ryan Gosling) finds purpose–and trouble. The Driver normally takes long pauses before answering questions, not so much to be sure of his reply but to determine if he can muster the strength to engage the world. But that changes when he meets and instantly falls for Irene (Carey Mulligan), a troubled married woman with a young son and a husband who’s about to be paroled. The husband owes some favors to the wrong kind of people, and unless he pulls off a robbery, his family will die. The Driver volunteers to be behind the wheel for the heist in order to save mother and son, but complications arise during the job, and he soon is the target of hellacious gangsters (Albert Brooks and Ron Perlman, in brilliant turns). Others continually point out to the Driver that it’s bad luck that led him to such a situation, that he would have been fine if only events had worked out differently. This seems to be the world view of the film, but it feels like the misfortune has less to do with external circumstance than with inner nature. An inflexible soul incapable of yielding will eventually crash. Watch trailer.
••••••••••
The Elephant in the Living Room
Humans encountering wild animals in developed areas across America, an increasing trend in recent years, seemed to be an unintended consequence of the pre-recession construction boom, when sprawl encroached on habitats. But it was something else–we simply invited the dangerous wildlife into our homes. Encouraged by Animal Planet content and any number of zany wranglers making the rounds of talk shows, a booming black market has developed for exotic animals, as witnessed in Michael Webber’s eye-opening doc about people making pets of lions and leopards and such. Webber shows libertarianism run amok, in which local newspaper circulars and underground Amish country dealers supply the subculture with creatures. Once the poisonous snakes and hungry lion cubs are taken home, all hell often breaks loose, as animals escape or are turned out by owners who can no longer manage them. The movie’s heart is Ohio enforcement officer Tim Harrison who tries to counsel those with dubious judgement and damaged souls into giving up their small-scale zoos, to change minds that are already made up. “It’s not a python problem,” he says, “but a people problem.” Watch trailer.
•••••••••••
More recent films I liked now on home video: