The Driver

In Los Angeles, a mysterious driver (Ryan O'Neal) is a sad man of few words that drives getaway car in robberies. One day, he participates of a heist of a casino and a player (Isabelle Adjani) is the main witness. However, she tells to the detective (Bruce Dern) in charge of the investigation that the suspect is not the driver of the getaway car.

The detective becomes obsessed to arrest the driver and he seeks out a gang that has robbed a supermarket and promises to "forgive" their heist if they help him to arrest the driver in a bank robbery. But the player helps the driver to exchange the dirty money.

I have recently seen "Drive" and a friend of mine warned that the 2011 film would be a remake of "The Driver". I have just seen this good thriller by Walter Hill and I have realized that they have the same storyline.

"The Driver" has characters without name and is certainly among the greatest car-chase movies. Ryan O'Neal has one of his best roles and Isabelle Adjani is extremely beautiful. The conclusion has an open end with the unknown destiny of the money. My vote is eight.

Title (Brazil): "Caçador de Morte" ("Hunter of Death")

Those were The Driver's words after he take a crew of bank robbers for a test drive in their dodgy looking orange Mercedes and proceeds to trash it completely, knocking off both bumpers, tearing off a door, bumping both sides and flattening the roof. A classic scene and this is a good, late 70s action thriller from Walter Hill. It's film noir at it's best and it's pretty cool that every character doesn't have an actual name, we've got The Driver, The Detective, The Player and so on. Ryan O'Neal is cool without actually having to say very much and Bruce Dern is just Bruce Dern, wild eyed and crazy as the Detective determined to catch the Driver by using some strange policing. Isabelle Adjani is very quiet and a sexy foil for things to revolve around. The car chases and mash-ups are as good as some of the stuff used in Bullit, French Connection, The Seven-Ups and other top rate chase scenes.

Dern is a highlight as he is bonkers as ever and Walter Hill does a great job in direction and keeping things nice and compact.

Check it out!

THE DRIVER (4+ outta 5 stars) Classic, no-nonsense, action-chase movie about a professional getaway driver (Ryan O'Neal) and the obsessed cop (Bruce Dern) who is determined to see him behind bars. Terrific chase scenes highlight this unjustly-neglected modern day film noir. No one plays nutty, obsessed characters quite like Bruce Dern. Ryan O'Neal as the bad guy/hero shows even less emotion than he did in Kubrick's "Barry Lyndon"... he's often accused of non-acting but I think his low-key, taciturn performance here is mesmerizing. He may as well be driving down to the corner store for a carton of milk rather than eluding a dozen speeding police cars. Isabelle Adjani doesn't really have much to do in this movie but look beautiful... but I guess that's enough. There is not a lot of dialogue and not a lot of character development. The characters in this movie aren't even given names! They are merely listed as The Driver, The Detective, The Player, The Connection, etc. This is a real high point in the career of director Walter Hill. He may have had more financial success with "The Warriors" and "48 Hours" but I think this is his best, most fully realized action movie.

How underrated is Walter Hill?! 'The Driver' is one of his least known movies to a mainstream audience, but one of his best loved among fans. It's one of the greatest action movies I've ever seen, with car chases as exciting as any filmed before or since. The characters are all archetypes and named after their roles. There's no traditional character development here, but the actors and the action get the point across. Ryan O'Neal plays a getaway driver, the best in his field. Bruce Dern is the cop obsessed with catching him. He's willing to do anything to do so, even setting him up. I'm a major fan of Dern. I think he's one of the most interesting Hollywood actors and 'The Driver' is yet another great performance from him an a career filled with them ('The Wild Angels', 'Bloody Mama', 'Silent Running', 'Coming Home',etc.etc.) And Ryan O'Neal, an actor I've never warmed to, is surprisingly effective is a role originally intended for Steve McQueen. Plus you get Isabelle Adjani ('The Tenant'), always a pleasure to watch. I'd put 'The Driver' up there with the original versions of 'Vanishing Point', 'The Getaway' and 'Gone In 60 Seconds' as the most underrated action thrillers of the 1970s. Why it has yet to be remade is a mystery, but hoping it isn't as it will undoubtedly suck. Hollywood just seems to have lost the ability to make these kinds of movies. 'The Driver' is expertly directed by Walter Hill, who also scripted. Also check out 'The Warriors' and 'Southern Comfort' for the best of Hill. He's a hell of a film maker and rarely gets the attention he deserves.

Action specialist Walter Hill is in his element here with this tense, entertaining thriller that he both wrote and directed. Ryan O'Neal stars as a getaway driver for hire, who is hounded by offbeat detective Bruce Dern. Dern is dying to righteously bust O'Neal for something, but O'Neal is simply very good at his job. The detective will resort to any method necessary, but the driver is smart and seemingly always one step ahead of him.

One can hardly fail to notice the way that Hill deliberately doesn't personalize his characters too much, giving them descriptions or nicknames rather than proper names. And with the help of his very able cast, they create some very good character moments that are the real meat of this story. Its car chases are among the best you'll see in this genre, but serve to support the story instead of the story setting up the action set pieces. Hill again recalls styles from films of earlier decades - while, for example, his "Streets of Fire" was an ode to '50s rock 'n'roll, this film does owe a fair bit to the film noir of the '40s.

The people who populate this story are often all business, especially The Driver, who lives by his own code. There are things he'll do and things he won't do. Among other things, he employs a "witness" (French beauty Isabelle Adjani) and works with a "connection" (Ronee Blakley) who comes to him with job offers. The actors are all great, with the supporting cast also including Matt Clark and Felice Orlandi as Derns' fellow detectives, Joseph Walsh and Rudy Ramos as thieving lowlifes, and Bob Minor & Peter Jason in bit parts.

This tale is taut and convincing, told in a straightforward yet compelling manner; technically it's expertly done, with excellent editing by Tina Hirsch & Robert K. Lambert, cinematography by Philip H. Lathrop, and music by Michael Small. Hill's screenplay is full of interesting dialogue, especially in exchanges between Dern and Clark.

Hill has certainly done many fine and entertaining movies over the years, but this is one that tends to get overshadowed by his bigger hits such as "48 Hrs". It's a little gem worthy of discovery or re-discovery.

Eight out of 10.