Nicolas Winding Refn's sleek heist flick offers more quiet moments than you'd expect with a title like Drive. And some that aren't so quiet. Refn has respect for stasis, for discoveries beyond the frame, for close-ups revealing inchoate emotions. For example, "Driver" (Ryan Gosling) has a lot going on below the surface. A genius behind the wheel, his cool never wavers whether he's driving a stunt car for a movie or a getaway car for a robbery. A woman threatens his Zen detachment — his neighbor Irene (Carey Mulligan) and her cute son get under his skin. Meanwhile, his partner hooks up with Mr. Rose (a revelatory Albert Brooks), a former movie producer. They want to set Driver up with a race car. But the ex-con husband returns, a robbery goes awry, and the wheels fall off. Mulligan and Gosling's moments are touching and tender. But so are Gosling's scenes with Brooks. Like Driver, Mr. Rose seems like a decent guy — as long as he stays away from the cutlery.
