I was very taken with this little crime story that James Sallis wrote. I felt that the way the world was presented in the book demanded that its true grit be retained in the script. The grit comes from seeing the world from the point of view of the driver in the car. It's those elements that I felt were critical to retain to make this film a very unique cinematic experience. Waxman, Sharon (July 21, 2011). " Drive Director Winding Refn: 'Casting Is Like Sex'; and Guillermo del Toro Swears Like a Sailor". Reuters . Retrieved May 22, 2017. Rocchi, James (2012). "Top 10 of films of 2011". Alumni Gazette. Archived from the original on July 30, 2017 . Retrieved May 19, 2012. At his pizzeria, Nino reveals to Bernie that a low-level Italian-American Philadelphia mobster from the " East Coast mob" stashed the money at the pawn shop with plans to use the money to set up a new operation. Since anyone tied to the robbery could lead the East Coast Italian Mafia to them, they need to kill everyone involved. He convinces Bernie to follow his plan. Bernie murders Cook, as he is the sole witness to their agreement. After Shannon refuses to divulge the whereabouts of the Driver at the auto shop, Bernie slashes his forearm with a straight razor, killing him.

In 2014, The Huffington Post included Drive on its list of 8 Movies From The Last 15 Years That Are Super Overrated, with Bill Bradley criticizing the low amount of dialogue by Gosling's character and writing that "Refn spends all 100 minutes trying to convince you that he has a cool iPod playlist." [91] a b c Jagernauth, Kevin (December 8, 2011). "Exclusive: Ryan Gosling Says He'd Love To Do A Sequel To Nicolas Winding Refn's Drive". IndieWire . Retrieved July 1, 2011.Car scenes were filmed with a "biscuit rig," a camera car rig developed for the film Seabiscuit (2003). It allowed stunt driver Robert Nagle to steer the car, freeing Gosling to concentrate on acting. [35] Consistent with Refn's usual visual style, wide-angle lenses were used extensively by cinematographer Sigel, who avoided hand-held camera work. [34] Preferring to keep the film more "grounded" and authentic, he also avoided the use of computer-generated imagery (CGI). Budget restrictions were also a factor in this decision. [36] Carley, Brennan (October 20, 2014). "BBC Will Re-Score Drive With CHVRCHES, Banks, Bastille, SBTRKT, and More". Spin. Archived from the original on October 24, 2014 . Retrieved November 3, 2014. U.K. Box Office". British Film Council. September 27, 2011. Archived from the original on March 22, 2012 . Retrieved October 5, 2011.

Hartman, Darrell (September 10, 2009). "London Calling". Interview Magazine. Archived from the original on May 12, 2013. Movies From The Last 15 Years That Are Super Overrated". HuffPost. June 12, 2014. Archived from the original on February 25, 2017 . Retrieved May 20, 2017. Morgenstern, Joe (September 14, 2011). "Wall Street Journal Review Drive". The Wall Street Journal. CinemaScore". cinemascore.com. Archived from the original on September 16, 2017 . Retrieved May 4, 2020.

Drive (18)". British Board of Film Classification. Archived from the original on March 5, 2016 . Retrieved January 17, 2016.