The Driver

Infobox Film | name =The Driver


caption =The Driver
director = Walter Hill
producer = Lawrence Gordon
writer = Walter Hill
starring = Ryan O'Neal
Bruce Dern
Isabelle Adjani
Ronee Blakley
music = Michael Small
cinematography = Philip H. Lathrop
editing = Tina Hirsch
Robert K. Lambert
distributor = 20th Century Fox (North America)
EMI Films (International)
released = July 10, 1978
runtime = 91 min.
language = English
budget =
imdb_id = 0077474

"The Driver" is a 1978 crime film directed by Walter Hill and starring Ryan O'Neal, Bruce Dern, and Isabelle Adjani. The film is notable for its impressive car chases and no frills style of filmmaking.

Plot

The Driver (O’Neal) is a professional who steals cars to drive as getaway vehicles for big-time robberies. Hot on the Driver's trail is a policeman (Dern), who has nicknamed the Driver "Cowboy" and is determined to bring him down. “I’m gonna catch the cowboy that’s never been caught,” he tells The Driver early on. The Detective becomes so obsessed with defeating the Driver, that he himself sets up a bank job in order to entice — trap, and ultimately arrest — the Driver. Yet the Detective's plan, on which he has put his reputation on the line, blows up in his face: both he and the Driver are set up and burned by an inconsequential player. The real crux of the story comes mid-film, when The Driver has a clear chance to walk away but elects to play The Cop's game - and teach him a lesson?

Reception

Saying it's "probably advisable for "film noir" aficionados only," film critic Duncan Shepherd of the San Diego Reader praised the film highly (awarding it the highest 5-star rating). "The whole show, in fact, is something like a coded message passed from the moviemaker to the devotees of the genre, in full view of, but beyond the full understanding of, the rest of the audience," according to Shepherd. [ [http://www.sdreader.com/php/mvdisplay.php?&id=DRIVER Review] of "The Driver" in the Reader.]

Trivia

*Ryan O'Neal's character only says 350 words in the entire movie.
*Not one character has a name in this movie, and are all addressed by their occupation e.g. "the Driver".
*This film was originally written for Steve McQueen.
*The original orange Mercedes which was elegantly destroyed in the multi storey carpark scene was auctioned off, in its destroyed state, to independent British movie car collector, Ian Jackson. The price of the final bid is unknown but is believed to be between £8,000,000 and £9,000,000.Fact|date=February 2007
*The film was originally intended to be over two hours long. For years even the VHS tapes had said the length was over two hours, although it was always 90 minutes on those tapes, on cable TV, and now on DVD. Only once was the longer version shown, in a theater in Hollywood by director Walter Hill. This director's cut involved more chase scenes and character development.

References

External links

*imdb title|id=0077474|title=The Driver