Walter Hill (director)
(studio)
15 (certificate)
92 (length)
05 December 2022 (released)
30 November 2022
Released in 1978 The Driver is not a complicated film by any stretch of the imagination. Yet it has achieved a status amongst fans and an inspiration for filmmakers that has kept it from falling away into obscurity.
Very simply The Driver (Ryan O’Neal) is the first choice for bank robbers requiring a getaway driver as we see over the first fifteen minutes of the film. His skills behind the wheel and evasion of the law have become an obsession with Detective (Bruce Dern) who tries to set up a sting using criminal Glasses (Joseph Walsh) to set up a heist. Within this there is The Player (Isabelle Adjani) who has her own interests be it financial or otherwise.
The Driver is almost a perfect example of bleak minimalism; there is relatively little dialogue, the film barely moves out of night time Los Angeles (which in this 4K restoration looks stunning.)
The acting is spare, with the characters interacting – even in the most intense moments – with a sense of dislocation yet leaving the viewer in not doubt about the uncompromising pursuits of their goals. There’s not much characterisation with Dern being the only one whom the viewer can add any flesh to. A cop whose career has plateaued living on his past running on cynicism and bitterness.
Then there are the car chases that still hold up fantastically today and against the greatest which will include The French Connection and Bullitt. The latter is no surprise as writer and director Walter Hill was involved with that car chase sequence.
Bullitt is also worth mentioning as it featured Steve McQueen, and its arguable that Ryan O’Neil was in the ascendance to that level of superstardom when The Driver came along. It was a departure from his previous work and could have laid the ground for that sort of career, had he chosen to pursue it. His subsequent choices suggest he wasn’t that interested and The Driver stands as a unique choice in a solid body of work.
Extras:
• New Masterclass: Walter Hill - An exclusive masterclass with writer-director Walter Hill recorded at Reims Festival 2022
• New Interview with Walter Hill
• Alternate opening sequence
• Trailer
• Teasers
The Driver is out on Steelbook, UHD (with poster), Blu-ray, DVD and Digital from Monday 5 December:
