Next up in my series of book to movie
comparisons is Drive. Drive was written by James Sallis and the
movie version was directed by Nicolas Winding Refn. I didn’t know that the movie
was based on the book until after I had seen it. I got a copy of the book after
finding out it existed, but never got around to checking it out until now.
This is not a very long book but it sure
packs in a lot of story. Right from the start you are thrown in to the world of
the lead character. No backstory setup, that comes later during the book. The
main character Driver is a stunt driver by day and at night or in his off time
he is a getaway driver for criminals. I like the fact that book is not very
long because James Sallis does not include any filler to carry the story along.
The action and violent scenes are very descriptive and help the reader picture
what is going on and what drives Driver to seek revenge. In a short time you
come to care about the character and root for him even though technically he is
a bad guy.
In the last few years Hollywood has
fallen in love with Ryan Gosling. Gosling was a perfect fit for the role of
Driver. He is very clean cut and looks like someone who could be your neighbor.
The movie like the book is very fast paced. There is a bit more character setup
and development in the movie but it is worth it in the end. One thing I really
liked about the movie is that there didn’t seem to be very much if any CGI used
throughout. The driving scenes seemed very natural and not overly flashy. The movie
while set in California could very well have been set in any other state in the
country because it didn’t rely on the surroundings to sell the story.
It is very hard to pick which one of
these forms of the story I prefer. The book is a very well written character
story that pulls you in from the beginning and doesn’t let you go until the
very end. The movie follows the key points of the book very well. There are
some differences from the book to the movie that are necessary. Without the
changes I don’t think the movie would have been as good. For example, the backstory
and development of some of the characters in the movie are important to help
the viewer connect with them. In the book the development is not as crucial
with the pace of it. One thing I do wish they would have covered in the movie
is where Driver came from and how he really got his start. That was a very
interesting part of the book and I think helps shed light on the person that is
Driver and what leads him to do what he does.
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