Nicolas Winding Refn

This fulfills my lifetime requirement for lesbian necrophilia! As about an 85-minute horror movie without all the pretentious bullcrap, this might have been effective. At least, against my expectations, it did have an ending, and the eyeball earned it an extra half star. But seriously, the idea of Elle Fanning as a woman other women see as so attractive that they....well, I won't spoil the plot. But seriously, she is attractive in her way, but hardly a great beauty. Put Charlize Theron at show more the same age in this role and it would have been a different story. And how much did they have to pay Keanu Reeves to be in this? Although he is quite effective as a really creepy motel manager. But unlike Norman Bates, Reeves's character is basically peripheral to the plot. show less

Great performances. Gosling is perfect in the lead. Mulligan is impossible not to love. And Albert Brooks is a really great bad guy. Combine this with direction and editing that leaves never a dull moment and you have a real classic.

A driver gets involved in a mob set-up.

I wasn't as blown away as I expected to be based on the internet's reaction/obsession with it, but it's a great movie. It oozes hipness. I predict there will be a number of movies in the next few years that emulate its style. Also: What is this cast? How is this a thing?

Concept: A
Story: B
Characters: A
Dialog: A
Pacing: B
Cinematography: B
Special effects/design: B
Acting: A
Music: A

Enjoyment: A

GPA: 3.6/4

(Oct. 2011)

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B (Good). Too influential for it's own show more good. It felt like something completely new when it came out. Now it just feels like an ordinary crime film.

(Sep. 2023) show less

A film starring Tom Hardy (Vertigo, 2009).

A prisoner likes to fight his guards.

C+ (Okay).

It's kind of weird how gripping this is able to be for a movie that is just a psycho punching random people for 90 minutes.

(Jun. 2023)