Writing a catchy synopsis for this movie, avoiding cliches, must have been harder than writing the script itself.

A nameless driver, Los Angeles, a robbery gone wrong, the mob involved, a decent guy turned thug by the unfolding of circumstances.

Drive, directed by Nicolas Winding Refn and starring Ryan Gosling, is so much more than that.

It flattens and flatters Los Angeles putting the City of Angels under a completely different spotlight.

A dark, drab, pink-ish, ghostly town with dim lights that cast no shadow where a nameless, seemingly fearless driver (Ryan Gosling) talks very little and smiles even less.

He seems to find no use for conventional chitchats. He tries to lead a relatively uneventful life and ironically ends up in some serious and complicated trouble.

His toneless and unassuming personality, again paradoxically, makes him interesting and charming, in a weird way.

Side characters, antagonists and supporting characters, they each have their own specific and unusual personality.

A Jewish mobster who tries to act like an Italian gangster (Nino/Ron Perlman), a wannabe gentleman criminal who comes across as violent and twisted (Bernie Rose/Albert Brooks).

Even the sweet, soft and compelling girl (Irene/Carey Mulligan); they’re all intriguing and yet they’re all outshined by the performance of Ryan Gosling.

His silent fortitude, his solitude and taciturn attitude become a metaphorical soliloquy of emotions.

This film says so much by saying so little. Even though the key elements, the characters, and the setting have been used and abused over the years, Drive is nothing like you’ve ever seen before.

It isn’t even an especially quotable film, it’s very visual and gives you thrills.

The L.A. River at dusk, “A Real Hero” by College & Electric Youth, driver and Irene drive on, hand in hand and hands on the gear lever.

Epic.