Brooding, extremely violent neo-noir directed by Nicolas Winding Refn, responsible for the Pusher trilogy (part 3 is great), Bronson and Valhalla Rising. He's clearly a talent to watch, and has turned what could have been a generic action flick into something quite different and fascinating. I don't want to give away the particulars of the plot because I think you should know as little as possible going in, but fans of dark, violent noir should dig this one. Shot with an eye towards late 70s/early 80s American cinema with an electronic soundtrack and a welcome return to focusing on characterization. Ryan Gosling is very impressive as the taciturn lead, and Albert Brooks is suprisingly effective as a psychopathic gangster.

One of the top 5 movies I've seen this year.

Albert Brooks??

I did not like Valhalla Rising that much (I liked the concept but the last half of the movie, I thought, was a complete mess). But it's the only movie I've seen directed by Refn.

Anyway, I'll probably check this out due to, if nothing else, your recommendation. Fag.

Yeah, wait until you see him. He's good.

Valhalla Rising is equal parts totally cool and pretentious as hell. It's also nothing like Drive.

I would recommend that you avoid the preview for Drive, it gives away far too much of the plot.

Cool, I'm going to definitely check it out. Thanks.

This one is tops on my list...hope to see it this weekend. Glad it you dug it, Josh.

Wow I caught a glimpse of a preview on television and immediately dismissed it as another Fast and Furious-type piece of shit....had no idea there was actual talent in it, much less a story. Thanks for the tip, now I think I'll check it out.

Same here.

I thought it looked like Fast and Furious without the terrible people in it. The driving shit looked pretty good, mostly. I'm going to keep my expectations neutral.

I'm being inundated with praise for this movie from nearly everyone I know right now. The car movie genre has been in the fucking shitter for so long, I have to go see this. It seems too good to be true.

I saw it and to be honest, I was extremely frustrated with it.

There are scenes which are brilliant and exhilarating. I appreciate the fact that the editor and the director doesn't have ADD and they don't chop up the movie in super short edits like most summer movies (like the fucking Transformers bullshit). The cast was good - Especially Albert Brooks.

My problem was the slow pacing started growing tiresome the 2nd half of the movie. Some parts rang hollow and I thought the ending was too cheap.

This could of been a classic movie! It should of been a classic movie..but there were a few fatal mistakes that kinda brought the whole thing down.

Definitely NOT a 'Fast & Furious' type of movie...

I thought it was brooding and mostly free of Hollywood gloss.

Not an action movie, not a 'whodunnit', not a twists-and-turns with surprise endings flick...

Just a dark yet visually stunning piece of gritty film-making.

Best picture nominee? Nah...probably not...but way better than most things on offer this year.

Really, really enjoyed this movie. I thought it was great. 8.5/10

A few minor problems with it but, overall, as I said, just terrific.

Just drove a half hour to one of the only places playing it in 2 remaining time slots, so it's on it's way out, and onto dvd. I would say, catch it if you can in the theater...

This film was great. JKFlesh nailed it. This is a great film, though there were a few issues I also had, but whatever. I wont get into detail as well, as I know alot havent seen it, but the plot was great and the ambiance was spectacular. I guess Im getting older when I notice how well a score/non score scenes and editing help achieve levels of tension/buildup. Winding Refn is still a work in progress, and this is the next level of a visionary director, imo.

This is one of the better films to come out this year, though very violent. I heard there was a screener torrent version floating around for the past week or two, and skipped it, only because I wanted to see it on the big screen, and also heard a few screener leaks have no soundtrack/score.

Looking forward to checking this out.

I think this has the Mad Max of this generation vibe to it..a cult classic for sure.

I rarely get to the movies but went to see this yesterday (early showing is only $6!) and liked it. It was bloodier than it needed to be but worth checking out. I really liked Albert Brooks as a bad guy.

Bronson is good too

http://uk.imdb.com/title/tt1172570/

fantastic movie. definitely one of the best to have come out this year. it's too bad it was misrepresented by the hollywood promo machine, just as Valhalla Rising was. but unlike VH this one really makes the arthouse / violent movie crossbreed work.

and it's got one of the best soundtrack/scores I've ever heard.

Agreed. Really a movie that catches one off guard.

Liked this.

At the very start I had some doubts, but they proved immatured.

I finally saw this too. A car flick with well developed characters! Shocking. My only complaints are very minor. Got a little tired of the synth pop by the middle, and some of the slower, quiet parts felt like Vincent Gallo was involved somehow, but I still really liked it.

Oh, one other thing that stood out a little -- the girl Irene looked almost identical to Michelle Williams, who stared with Gosling in Blue Valentine. I was almost expecting him to take her to a Star Trek themed hotel room for some sad sex.

I have seen this movie.... The beginning of the movie is really good...
The main character in this movie is too good...
Me and my friends, We all are enjoyed this movie...