The film that should have been named in this category is Nicolas Winding Refn’s “Drive.” Transcending the crime genre, it stars Ryan Gosling as a man who lives primarily to drive. Sometimes he’s a movie stunt driver, sometimes he drives getaway for crooks. He seems to have no family, no history and seemingly few emotions. Whatever happened to him drove any personality deep beneath the surface. He is an existential hero, defined entirely by his behavior. Not depending on violence, not buttressed by chase scenes, this film is a personality study. How often do we find the hero of an “action picture” to be this deeply interesting?
