"The Driver" Review: It's Not About The Money, Bruh

"I have to escape the cops" look

 
Once again, my fellow readers, I welcome you to another theturborocket movie review. Today, we're going to discover  "The Driver" from 1978: a film that has a cathartic effect on our car chase fetish. If you're reading this, you know what I'm talking about. You can't be a petrolhead and not LOVE car chases... and a good'un almost always has to involve the coppers. Like "Two Lane Blacktop" (check out our review on that), the main character is called, you guessed it, "The Driver" (Ryan O'Neal) and he doesn't talk a lot. However, since "The Detective" (Bruce Dern), who talks a lot, is trying to frame our man, he has to outsmart him in some way. Our main character's job of a getaway driver for first-rate criminals gives him ample money to live comfortably. He doesn't do that, though. He lives in a miserable, little apartment, his only personal belongings being his clothes, a portable radio and his gun. This means, of course, that he does his job only for the kicks. Wouldn't you? I think you probably would. All he does is make a deal, steal a car, get the baddies and escape the cops with sick driving skills.

  This is more or less the beginning of the film, where "The Driver" gets away from the cops in a 1974 Ford Galaxie 500, with which the cops'll manage to get a lead on him. "The Player" (Isabelle Adjani) has seen our hero's his face while helping out the crooks. As she's being questioned by the popos, she doesn't snitch on him and indirectly becomes his sidekick... for a price. "The Driver" manages to clear out this time. The cop, on the other hand, really wants to catch our guy who's addicted to driving like a lunatic. If you actually watch the film, you'll notice how he uses the baddies as an "excuse" to go on a driving streak, while making fuckloads of unused bucks on the side. Anyhow, the cop decides to hire a few second-rate burglars who he caught stealing a supermarket 'cause of their shitty driving. He wants them to burgle a bank, recruit "The Driver" and bring him with the money to a set drop point. Or else, they'll go to jail.

  One night, the crew meets up with our man in an orange 1970 Mercedes 280S at an enclosed parking lot. They ask him to show them his skills and he certainly delivers. Without uttering one single word and the baddies begging him to stop, "The Driver" brings the Merc to the brim of destruction. My guess is that he wanted to prove a point: even if the car's totally fucked, we're still getting away. Then, him having worked with many crooks, turns down their offer for recruitment, knowing of the risk awaiting him if he had accepted. After a short "talk" with one of the criminals, "The Driver" takes the job for double of his usual share. They do the job, the arrogant cop waiting for them to arrive at the drop point. But, this being the underworld, no one shows up. "The Driver" along with one of the baddies, "Glasses" (quite the 70's character naming inventiveness) escape in a '77 Pontiac Firebird and got to another drop point. The amateur crook tries to kill "The Driver" and leave with the money but his plan backlashes. Our hero has the moneyz and leaves in a red Chevy C10 with SIDEPIPES!! (YEAH! ROCK N' ROLL, BITCHEZZ!)

Hard driving + land yacht= amusing

  Nevertheless, let's cut to the chase (no pun intended, but it happens). "The Driver" puts the money in a locker at the train station. The cops want to snatch up the briefcase so they can finish-off their framing. "The Player" is a poor-ass, young, cute chick who wants money 'cause her job is "Doing Nothing". The last crook to be alive wants the money as well. And "The Driver" just wants to drive like a lunatic again. The last car chase is epic. It's between "The Driver" and the chick in the C10 against the last baddie and his friend in a '74 Pontiac Trans Am with a paint job best described as "puketastic". I love how the car chases, of which all take place at night, are so hypnotising without any dialog. Even better when they add a little bit of jazz in the most suspense filled scene. If you pay attention to the driving techniques he uses throughout the film, it pays off in the end. "The Driver" is confronted with the baddies in a warehouse with quite a few pleasurably stealable cars (an old Merc, a light blue Mustang), if I was in his situation. They "play" chicken, "The Driver" being flawless at this game. The baddies go on a crazy barrel roll and our hero gets the key to the briefcase which the crook had stolen earlier. Nevertheless, I'll spare you the end because it made laugh my ears off!

The Merc being sacrificed to the stuntman gods 

 In conclusion, I just noticed that the two movies that we've discovered so far both have main characters that are called "The Driver", don't talk a lot, live very cheap and around driving like madmen, don't have a girlfriend and star in excellent car movies. I haven't ever seen a film filled with so many excellent car chases/ car stunts. Sure, it's not overflowing with dialog. But, in the laconic way that "The Driver" expresses himself, he adds more depth to the message he wants to pass on. To be honest, if I wasn't living in our "blip-bloop-bleep" car era that is the 21st century and instead in the 60's/70's (pretty sure I'd fit right in), I would've become a getaway driver. No doubt about it. Your whole life revolves around being the best at escaping the coppers, while having your adrenaline pumping at surreal levels. I'm super positive that if you have Chris Harris like driving skills, you're ready. It's probably the petrolhead equivalent of a heroin addiction.  It's self destructive and makes you feel amazing. "The Driver" is an underrated movie. Even the plot is quite intriguing and surely had me at the edge of my seat quite a few times. Compared to a more mainstream car movie, "The Fast And The Furious", I find "The Driver" as a superior car movie 'cause it really lets you savour the action. There aren't any ridiculous gazillion gearchanges, NOS, neon lights, shouting and hip hop music. Simply a demonstration of jaw dropping driving skills and natural sounds effects. It's a beautifully pure and straightforward movie. Watch it!