Nerds That Geek Movie Review: ‘Drive All Night’

Written by John Edward Betancourt

We lead fairly structured lives. The kind that features a pretty standard routine. Wherein we wake up in the morning and enjoy some form of breakfast or beverage, before heading out into the world to earn our paycheck for eight hours. And after we’ve put in some hard work at the office, we head home to enjoy our own special brand of downtime, before heading off to bed to dream away before starting this pattern over anew. But what is truly fascinating about our daily routine, is the last part of it. Because we are so focused on our world and our patterns, that we truly believe that bedtime is the end of the day and the world stops moving whilst we sleep. When in fact, that's simply not the case.

For while the vast majority of us snore and shift beneath the sheets, dreaming of all kinds of wonders, the world is still in motion. For there are people who earn their living under the cover of night. Such as taxicab drivers who move people about in the darkness, and some of their fares are out late because they’re eager to experience a world that is free from the trappings of the norm. If anything, it is definitely safe to say, that an entirely different world comes to life while we sleep. One that we simply do not understand in the slightest, since our lives separates us from the wonder and majesty and danger of the night life. But thankfully, storytellers are always there to explore places and things and environments that we are unfamiliar with, and recently, this reviewer had the opportunity to enjoy a motion picture that takes the time to explore the wild world that comes to life when the sun goes down, in Drive All Night.

Now in this particular tale, we are introduced to a cab driver named Dave, a quiet recluse, that wants nothing more than to get the job done and get on with his evening. But there is indeed more to Dave than merely hoping to get through the night and earn his paycheck. For he dreams of being with the one woman he shares a nighttime connection with, a server named Morgan. Plus, he would be just fine with exploring the world and seeing it when the sun is bearing down and well, he just might get that opportunity. For when a strange and enigmatic passenger named Cara instructs him to drive all night and take her wherever she pleases, Dave is going to get the opportunity to live a little for a change and that might alter his outlook on the future, for the better. Provided of course, he and Cara can evade the trouble that is quietly hunting her from afar.

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So, before we dig too deeply into this particular film, this is the perfect time to provide you with a bit of a warning. For you see, this is quite the unique motion picture when all is said and done, one that doesn’t really adhere to standard storytelling structure and that can be quite jarring and confusing at first. To the point where a viewer might want to walk away from this movie and watch something else. But it is definitely safe to say, that sticking with this one is worth your while, for several reasons. First and foremost, because it really is quite the gorgeous piece of art. For Writer/Director Peter Hsieh takes the time to build a mysterious and beautiful world here, one that features a fascinating retro 80s vibe and those visuals and the fascinating structure of this film… help to ease the viewer into the theme present within its plot.
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In that, this is clearly a movie about finding our way forward in life and waking up from the fog that life sometimes sinks us into. Because Dave really has zero purpose and no direction when we meet him here, but his adventures with Cara and her carefree way of handling life… slowly allows for him to look at his own journey and its accomplishments and failures and begin to understand that he’s given up to a certain extent, and is hiding from life and everything that it could offer him. Which is a fascinating and uplifting lesson to find within the framework of a movie, that appears to be the visual interpretation of a dream, but that too helps to reinforce the notion, that Dave is waking up from his own dreamlike state so he can finally live in the light that he’s rejected for so long. 

However, do bear in mind, that such a deep and uplifting message isn’t really front and center, the first time you watch this film. Which means that multiple viewings will likely be necessary to properly capture everything that this movie sends your way and that’s not a bad thing by any means. For this really is quite the fascinating ride, one that truly immerses the viewer in a strange environment that we have quite literally dreamed about and that definitely means that this motion picture is worth a look. Since it really is unlike anything else on the market. For it truly thumbs its nose at traditional storytelling structure to provide the viewer with an outright experience, and that is quite the wonderful thing to find in an era where experimentation is film is not as common as it used to be.

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