The Nativity Story (2006)

Starring: Keisha Castle-Hughes, Oscar Isaac, Shaun Toub, Ciarán Hinds, Shohreh Aghdashloo, Stanley Townsend

Director: Catherine Hardwicke

Genre: Drama, Family, Religious

Rating: C+

Despite the fact that I've never really been religious, I've always enjoyed religious movies.  I might not believe that the story actually happened, but I've never found that it's stopped me from enjoying the story itself - much like how I enjoy Harry Potter without believing that Hogwarts exists.

The Nativity Story tells the story of Mary (Castle-Hughes), a young girl who has been told by God that she will become pregnant with His child, who will be named Jesus.  Mary is betrothed to Joseph (Isaac), and through the course of the story the two must struggle with what Mary's pregnancy means for each of them and the world around them.  Also dealing with such a struggle is King Herod (Hinds), who has learned of a prophecy predicting that a man will emerge as King of the Jews - a title which Herod thinks is rightfully his.  Herod is willing to go to great lengths in order to ensure that the prophecy is not fulfilled, and these lengths in turn influence the struggles of Mary and Joseph, the parents (in a manner) of the prophesied man.

This is not an original take on the story, and as such I think it really suffers.  The story that it's telling is one that we've heard many, many times before and thus this movie can be a bit dull.  The acting isn't stellar either, asides from Keisha Castle-Hughes and Oscar Isaac everyone's performance is a bit forgettable.  There's nothing really amazing about this movie - which in itself is sad, given as it's about Jesus.

Where Nativity does do well is in the depiction of the relationship between Joseph and Mary.  I think my favourite part about this entire film was Joseph and seeing him coming to terms with what his life has become.  At one point, Joseph says to Mary "I wonder if I will even be able to teach him anything," and in a single sentence surmises much of the struggle that he's been going through throughout this movie - the actual him having to come to terms with the fact that his wife is pregnant with the child of someone else is dealt with rather quickly.  I love this sentence and I really loved how you can see Joseph's struggle throughout, and in a way relate to it a lot more than Mary's struggle.  As weird as it sounds, the hero of this piece for me was Joseph, not Mary or her unborn child.

Drive (2011)

Starring: Ryan Gosling, Carey Mulligan, Bryan Cranston, Christina Hendricks, Ron Perlman, Oscar Isaac, Albert Brooks

Director: Nicolas Winding Refn
Genre: Crime, Drama, Thriller, Neo Noir
Rating: A+

This is definitely one of my favourite movies of all time.  There are a few key elements of it that make it so epic-ly awesome: it's awesomely and subtly acted, it's unpredictable, and it blows your mind.  The first time that I saw it was in theatres and there were a few key points during which I actually jumped out of my seat (fortunately, I was at Station Square and there wasn't really anyone else there).

Drive follows an unnamed man, the Driver (Gosling) through a life changing journey.  At the start of the film he's a man with... questionable morals; by day he works as a stuntman and a mechanic, and by night he works as a getaway driver.  When he's working as a getaway driver the Driver has a set of rules; he only works anonymously, he never works for the same people twice, and he only allows them five minutes to get their business done.  It is implied, although not confirmed, that the Driver has not been caught at his night job.  The Driver's daytime boss and night time connection is Shannon (Cranston), a man with a mixed past and many ties to the mob.  Shannon is hoping to get mobster Bernie Ross (Brooks) to buy a stock car for the Driver to race; Bernie's partner Nino (Perlman), thinks the idea is ridiculous and doesn't trust Shannon - whose pelvis he once had broken because of Shannon's habit to overcharge.  While the Driver's business life is becoming a bit more shady his personal life is becoming a bit more involved; one day he meets his neighbour Irene (Mulligan) and her son Benicio (Kaden Leos), and becomes close to the two.  Despite having clear romantic feelings for Irene things are complicated when her husband Standard (Isaac) is released from jail, and complicated further when it becomes clear that Standard owes money and needs the Driver's help - help that, if it isn't procured threatens Irene and Benicio.

Ryan Gosling's performance in this is amazing.  The thing that really makes it a powerful performance is the fact that Driver is a largely silent man; there are entire scenes that go by with him barely saying a word.  He really has to show the audience what he's thinking and feeling, rather than simply tell them, and he's extremely successful in doing so.  Driver has questionable morals, but it's very clear to see just what he values and what he takes pride in.  His feelings for Irene are never really spoken but from the beginning it's clear how he feels, and the chemistry between the two is very convincing.  The other actors all seem to kind of fall in around Gosling's performance; none of them are over the top, none of them fail to be convincing.  The scenes between Cranston and Gosling especially are intriguing as they have rather clashing personalities; Cranston's Shannon being a very talkative, morally deviant, and rather weak willed man, while the Driver is strong and silent, even if his actions aren't always right.  That's the other thing that I like about this film - there are so many shades of grey here.  The villains are clearly established, but even some of them are somewhat likeable. The good guys are also clearly established, but they're not always that likeable either, and they operate on the same shades of grey that the villains operate under.  Asides from Benicio, who as a child is an innocent, the purest character in this film is Irene - who has feelings for the Driver, despite being married, and really is married to a convict, giving one just reason to question her own morals.  I could say more, but I fear doing so and spoiling the movie.  Instead, I'll leave this off with a bit of a warning: this is a very gritty and dark movie; it's smarter than the average crime, car chase type film, but it's also a lot more gruesome and violent.