The Driver (Arrow Recommends)

Last Updated on August 2, 2021

Arrow Recommends is a column that has my sorry ass advise older movies to your royal asses. I will be flexible in terms of genres i.e. I will cover whatever the bleep I want. For now, it will be the way to keep my voice on the site.

PLOT: Get away driver with the most Ryan O Neal revs into second gear when some semi psycho cop attempts to send him behind bars by setting him up. Thing is, set the dude up all ya want – catching him on the other end… NOT THAT EASY!

'I respect a man that's good at what he does. I'll tell you something, I'm very good at what I do." – The Detective

LOWDOWN: I'm a big fan of director Walter Hill's work. Gems like JOHNNY HANDSOME, 48 HOURS, HARD TIMES, RED HEAT, what not, always warm my engine. But now of late, I've been exploring the dude’s body of work more in depth and I am realizing that HILL is my kind of director; he makes men movies for men with men being men. Specially his work from the 70’s and 80’s. Which brings me to the 1978 THE DRIVER (get it here), which Nicolas Winding Refn's 2011 DRIVE was obvioulsy hugely inspired by.

this hot rod sported a simple, almost 1-2-3 tale that was elevated to a higher plane due to its ASTOUNDING car chase sequences, its sharp dialogue and its random cool quirks (like none of the lead characters having names beyond The Driver, The Detective or The Player). Ryan O Neal was the ultimate get-away driver, Bruce Dern, a dirty cop that wants to catch him, and Isabelle Adjani was the bird caught in the middle.

Although the storyline was somewhat pedestrian, it was the thick noir-ish atmosphere, Ryan O Neal being too cool for school with little dialogue and dope sunglasses, Dern’s fast talking jackass demeanor and the hold on to your crotch car chases that made this one worthwhile. A note on one of the key car chases in the film if I may. Remember that “no soundtrack shootout” in HEAT? Well THE DRIVER did it too. One of the extended car chases here played out in that manner: no score, cars racing down busy streets in “real speed” with just the sound of cars engines, and tires screeching backing that up. OH YEAH!

Now I’m not a car jock type of guy by any means, but the execution of that said chase had me grow a couple of extra hairs on mu chest. Talk about visceral and engaging! MANLY POETRY BABY! Now some may say that THE DRIVER was more than a good guy/bad guys chase movie. I mean, I’m sure if I look real hard, I’ll find symbolism, maybe a pinch of existential butter…etc. Thing is I didn’t care to. I boogied to the driver for what it was at face value and that was enough for this jerk.

On a sour note, although pleasant to the retina I have no idea WHY Isabelle Adjani was in the film. Her under written role served little to no purpose within the whole other than acting as window dressing. Quite the shame as the lass is quite the actress when given the chance. And was I alone in craving more violence? Film was a tad too dry for my tastes. Lastly, I didn’t really grasp the “how” behind the double-cross on top of double-cross that went down during the last block. My brain was left a tad numb it. But hey, I'm a moron, nobody can fault the film for that.

But overall though; THE DRIVER was a moody, fast paced, testosterone charged  and fairly straight forward action thriller flick with Ryan O Neal (the role was originally written for Steve McQueen but he turned it out – he was sick of car movies) being at his most bad ass and Bruce Dern putting the capital A in ASSHOLE.

Little known fact, Quentin Tarantino has called this film one of the "coolest movies of all time." And I gotta agree with the lad. You down with some sleek, loud, exciting and moody times? Hop in the passenger seat and enjoy the ride!