The 2011 movie Drive stars Ryan Gosling as a skilled Hollywood stunt driver who moonlights as a getaway driver for criminals. In the ending, his quiet life unravels after a botched robbery, leading to a brutal confrontation that leaves him forever changed.
The Driver, who has no name in the film, lives by a strict code. He works days as a mechanic and stuntman, nights driving for jobs that last only five minutes. He befriends his neighbor Irene, played by Carey Mulligan, and her young son Benicio while her husband Standard gets out of prison. Things go wrong when Standard owes money to mobster Bernie Rose, played by Albert Brooks. The Driver offers to help Standard with one last heist to pay off the debt, but it fails. A pawn shop owner and his son die in a shootout, and the Driver realizes the robbery was a setup.
As the police close in, the Driver confronts his partner Shannon, his mechanic mentor. In a tense elevator scene earlier, he snaps and kills a hitman sent for Irene’s family. Now, he tracks down the criminals. He beats mob enforcer Cook in a pawn shop bathroom in one of the film’s most violent moments. Then he meets Bernie in a quiet apartment. Bernie offers the Driver a cut of the stolen money to disappear, but the Driver refuses. Bernie stabs him in the stomach. The Driver pulls the knife out and stabs Bernie back, killing him. Bleeding heavily, the Driver walks to his car, a 1973 Chevy Malibu he customized himself.
He drives out of Los Angeles onto a desert highway. The final shot shows him gripping the wheel, staring ahead with a blank expression as blood stains his shirt. A scorpion crawls across the dashboard, symbolizing danger and his scorpion jacket from earlier. The Driver survives his wounds but chooses solitude. He rejects Irene, who called him earlier, because his violent world endangers her. The ending highlights his isolation. Director Nicolas Winding Refn drew from 1980s films and Greek tragedy, where the hero’s flaw leads to downfall. The Driver’s silence and minimal dialogue make his pain internal. Some see hope in his survival, others see a man doomed to drift alone. The pawn shop robbery ties back to the Driver’s skills, but his code crumbles under betrayal.
The elevator fight and highway drive use long takes and synth music by Cliff Martinez to build tension. Gosling’s performance relies on stares, not words. The film leaves questions open, like if Irene learns the full truth or if the Driver ever returns. It ends on ambiguity, fitting the Driver’s mysterious life.
Sources
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drive_(2011_film)
https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/drive-2011
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0780504/
