“Drive” — The SCV Talk Archive

“Drive”

By Jeff — Jeff Wilson

Ryan Gosling checks out the SCV scenery in the new movie Drive

I’m not much of a movie goer or reviewer but my wife and I found ourselves in rare cinematic agreement Saturday when we both agreed to see the new movie Drive.

I thought it looked really cool from the previews. “Like the Fast and Furious, only more serious,” I thought. “Film noir on wheels in the City of LA,” my wife thought. Whatever that is, I thought in response.

Overall: “It’s a car movie and she wants to see it….how bad could it possibly be?” Well….

My brother, who works in the “Industry,” told me a funny anecdote once. He was working on the distribution of the trailer for the Tom Cruise movie Valkyrie. The trailer sent to American theaters contained lots of explosions, gun play, airplanes, angry men shouting, and excitement. It probably raised the pulse of everyone in the focus group it was tested on. The trailer sent to European theaters, in contrast, was serious-minded, dialog-heavy and had virtually no explosions. Same movie, different trailers.

Drive’s trailer was more like the former (to attract low brows like me), but should have been marketed like the latter. Its car scenes are well-done but rare. It excels in its study of the characters and it has some exceptionally violent scenes. But I went for the cars and they tricked me so for that reason, I was disappointed.

What I wasn’t disappointed in was the fact that much of Drive is shot in the SCV. You see more of the SCV in Drive than you’ve seen on any screen -silver or small- since CHiPs. It’s all there: a scene with a race car on the old Saugus Speedway (the crowd was visibly excited by this authentic SCV pride moment and I was shooshed by someone I was so excited), a chase scene on Sierra Highway near the COC Canyon Country campus (along with a brief flash of the Sand Canyon sign), and some other scenes on what looked like the old Ridge Route or Old Road, north of Castaic. Once I rent (not buy) the DVD, I’m sure I’ll be able to pause a few scenes and pick out more SCV locales* from this critically acclaimed film.

So while Drive wasn’t all that I expected it to be, the scenes from our town make it a must-watch if you’re a loyal SCVer. I give it a B+.

Speaking of SCV-spotting in Hollywood films: my eagle-eyed wife spotted COC in Good Will Hunting recently. Can you see it just beyond Robin Williams’ feet? Someone should make a video compilation of shots of the SCV in major Hollywood films from over the years.

Comments (5)

Your Web GuruSeptember 18, 2011 at 9:30 am

Trailers are funny like that. Take Rainn Wilson’s (AKA Dwight Shrute) “Super,” which trailers make out to be a quirky comic book superhero spoof when in actuality it’s quite a dark story filled with gratuitous violence. It had it’s funny moments, but YIKES! The things he does with a pipe wrench!

Your Web GuruSeptember 18, 2011 at 11:04 am

I think it’s funny that I received a “thumbs down” for my response. So to you, Madame or Monsieur “Hater,” I thumb my nose in your general direction, and reply with a hearty “PPTTTTTTHHHT!”

mikeSeptember 18, 2011 at 10:34 am

oh, this sounds like fun. My friend (from SCV) actually shared an apartment Gosling and his sister a few years back. I love seeing SCV in film and TV, especially when you don’t expect it. I caught the Good Will Hunting shot when I saw it in the theaters, and it blew my mind. For one, the movie has such a strong sense of place, you don’t expect to see COC in any capacity. Also, the way the window is situated, there isn’t an office that matches it at COC. I was told back then that it was a projection and the office was a set, or something like that. IIRC, some of it was filmed in a college in Utah, of all places. It’s funny that we see SCV quite often in movies and TV, but on the rare occasion that the SCV is an actual location in the story, it’s filmed somewhere else (24, King of California).

mikecSeptember 18, 2011 at 10:40 am

Jeff, Me and the wife saw it last night as well. I enjoyed it. I thought it was an 80s movie with a noir twist. However, if you want a similar movie with more driving I would recommend a late 70s/early 80s movie called the driver (i think) it starred Ryan O’Neal…cool movie also shot in and around LA….

Timothy Myers SRSeptember 19, 2011 at 10:51 am

I think Jeff has a man crush on Ryan Gosling!

Your Web GuruSeptember 18, 2011 at 9:30 am
Trailers are funny like that. Take Rainn Wilson’s (AKA Dwight Shrute) “Super,” which trailers make out to be a quirky comic book superhero spoof when in actuality it’s quite a dark story filled with gratuitous violence. It had it’s funny moments, but YIKES! The things he does with a pipe wrench!
Your Web GuruSeptember 18, 2011 at 11:04 am
I think it’s funny that I received a “thumbs down” for my response. So to you, Madame or Monsieur “Hater,” I thumb my nose in your general direction, and reply with a hearty “PPTTTTTTHHHT!”
mikeSeptember 18, 2011 at 10:34 am
oh, this sounds like fun. My friend (from SCV) actually shared an apartment Gosling and his sister a few years back. I love seeing SCV in film and TV, especially when you don’t expect it. I caught the Good Will Hunting shot when I saw it in the theaters, and it blew my mind. For one, the movie has such a strong sense of place, you don’t expect to see COC in any capacity. Also, the way the window is situated, there isn’t an office that matches it at COC. I was told back then that it was a projection and the office was a set, or something like that. IIRC, some of it was filmed in a college in Utah, of all places. It’s funny that we see SCV quite often in movies and TV, but on the rare occasion that the SCV is an actual location in the story, it’s filmed somewhere else (24, King of California).
mikecSeptember 18, 2011 at 10:40 am
Jeff, Me and the wife saw it last night as well. I enjoyed it. I thought it was an 80s movie with a noir twist. However, if you want a similar movie with more driving I would recommend a late 70s/early 80s movie called the driver (i think) it starred Ryan O’Neal…cool movie also shot in and around LA….
Timothy Myers SRSeptember 19, 2011 at 10:51 am
I think Jeff has a man crush on Ryan Gosling!