Novel Adaptation: Drive

Would you be as surprised as I was to find out Drive (2011) starring Ryan Gosling was based off of a book? Well, it's true! The film was based off of a book of the same title by James Sallis. I only found out this information because I research on IMDb like most people creep on Facebook. I don't even remember the adaptation being mentioned in the opening credits of the film. I'll have to watch it again to be sure. When I found out Drive was a book first, of course I had to read it! I love a bit of film noir and in a novel version, I couldn't resist.

Drive by James Sallis (2007)

""Much later, as he sat with his back against an inside wall of a Motel 6 just north of Phoenix, watching the pool of blood lap toward him, Driver would wonder whether he had made a terrible mistake. Later still, of course there'd be no doubt. But for now Driver is, as they say, in the moment. And the moment includes this blood lapping toward him, the pressure of dawn's late light at windows and door, traffic sounds from the interstate nearby, the sound of someone weeping in the next room...." 

Thus begins Drive by one of the nation's most respected and honored authors. Set mostly in Arizona and L.A., the story is, according to Sallis "about a guy who does stunt driving for movies by day and drive criminals at night. In classic noir fashion, he is double-crossed and though never before has he participated in the violence (I drive. That's all.), he goes after the ones who double-crossed and tried to kill him.""

Drive by James Sallis (2007) is about a Hollywood stuntman who also is a getaway driver. It's a seemingly simple story, but the plot is very complex. Drive was thick with metaphors and you definitely have to read between the lines. The storyline was not linear and because of the nonlinear structure I was sometimes confused. I think you could definitely benefit from reading Drive twice. It's a short novel, only one hundred fifty-seven pages; I read it in one day.

In Drive (2007) the Driver talked more. I'm not sure I liked everything he had to say because you can talk a lot, but it doesn't mean you're saying anything. But the lines that were used in the film were the lines I liked the most. 

Drive by James Sallis was as mysterious as I expected it to be. I liked the main character and what he did. There were only two things that I disliked about Drive: 

1. Some of the flashbacks weren't very clear to me so I didn't find them necessary.
2. I would've liked it better if Sallis had written Drive like Palahniuk wrote most of his novels. When Palahniuk has an unnamed narrator, he writes it in first person so the name never gets revealed. Sallis wrote Drive in third person; I would have preferred to have read it in first. I felt the protagonist being named Driver was a bit cheesy and it just sat uneasily with me. It felt like he couldn't think of a good name so he decided to just go with Driver. 

There isn't much to say about Drive without giving the whole story away. It was a good book; short, sweet and to the point. And it was much different than the screenplay. The book definitely had more details and although it was ambiguous, the screenplay is more ambiguous.

Drive written by Hossien Amini (2011)

"A mysterious Hollywood stuntman, mechanic and getaway driver lans himself in trouble when he helps out his neighbor."

Drive (2011) written by Hossein Amini is one hundred minutes long which roughly translates to one hundred pages of script. In the industry, the "scale" is one page for each minute. Therefore, a hundred minute film is a hundred page script.

The 2011 film was not as metaphoric as the 2007 novel. Everything was pretty much at face value. There wasn't much hidden meaning or subtext in the film. I'm not saying there wasn't at all, but it was less than in the novel. The Driver, played by Ryan Gosling, talked less which made him more mysterious. I absolutely loved Gosling's performance in Drive. People were upset that it didn't get nominated for an Oscar, but sometimes it's good to keep little indie films like this out of big Hollywood award shows. The storyline in Drive (2011) was linear unlike the book which as flashbacks. There were no flashbacks, all the relationships were either established during the film or you knew about them based on the interactions. Watching the film made everything more clear; I understood everything better. Like the novel, I recommend watching the film twice. The first time I watched Drive, it felt like there was a lack of story. I watched it again and uncovered the subtext and the hidden motives of Ryan Gosling's character.

The screenplay is surprisingly different from the book and even the film. The characters, dialogue and certain scenes were the only similar parts. However, I was really impressed by how much the dialogue stayed true to the book. I really have to give Hossein Amini a hand for staying so true to the original text. I know I was surprised when I read certain lines in the book and then in the script. Even the characters names were kept. It was only the Driver's love interest whose name changed from Irina (Sallis) to Irene (Amini). I really apprentice screenwriters who manage to stay true to the work they're adapting while adding a little bit of their own ideas. The screenplay had different scenes than the book and there were scenes that got cut from the film. I definitely agree with the scenes and details that got omitted from the script. There were some scenes in the book that would've confused viewers and just weren't really necessary to the film (the flashbacks). If those scenes were kept, Drive would've been two hours long. The pacing of the film is much slower than the book. I felt everything happened so quickly in the book. Everything was more purposeful in the film. I definitely liked the screenplay better than the book. 

In both Drive by James Sallis and Drive by Hossein Amini, it was kind of suspicious that the love interest never asked the protagonist's name. I mean if I liked someone and introduced them to my kid, I would want to know their name. I love the simplicity in both as well. 

I enjoyed both versions of Drive. I did like the film better because the words became images, the opening sequence and of course Ryan Gosling. 

I don't think it really makes a difference whether you read Sallis's novel or watch Nicolas Winding Refn's film first. Either way you're getting two excellent versions of complex story. I highly recommend both. 

Sidenote: James Sallis also wrote a sequel to Drive called Driven, which I plan to read. Drive (2011) has no sequel and doesn't need one.