Intense, gripping, stylish and poignant

Don't listen to the Hype. It's awful

Fanciful, disturbing, and wildly original, it announces the arrival of a fresh, bold voice in American cinema.

Great movie. Not sure what people expected but I found it highly entertaining.

In this second slate of films from the BMW "The Hire" series of shorts, the Driver finds himself delivering a ransom to a kidnapper. When it all gets weird he finds himself in a race across town to get to the hostage before she dies.I had high hopes for this short film mainly because it was directed by John Woo – a name high on the list if you're asked to get a high-profile director to deliver a glossy action sequence that makes your car look awesome but also provides some Hollywood thrills. In this regard the film is actually OK because the half of the film that is a race across a city being pursued by police is quite glossy and, while not heart-pumping, at least looks good and has good motion as an effective soundtrack helps. Oddly it does feel a little lacking in ambition and the impacts seem a little tame, but it is still OK. The bigger problem is the other 50% of the running time. The very early sequences have mystery to them and there is an unhinged villain in the traditions of Hollywood, but quickly the mystery gives way to plot holes.The Driver seems to know where to head with very little information; the police gives chase of the "stolen" car even though it is the Driver's car and even though law enforcement are involved in the job and could call them off; the Driver appears to get down off a bridge in about a second – and so on. None of them are massive problems, but many of them could have been avoided by a line of dialogue, a slight change of location or some other device just to block the hole – instead the holes are just mostly ignored and it did sort of distract from the action to be thinking "hang on a second, how does...what, I..." and so on. The conclusion to the short is also a bit cryptic (being kind) or confusing (being honest) and, while I appreciate them trying to make a story here, I didn't think it worked and would have preferred a conclusion that fitted with the urgent, action side of the film rather than a side of the film that isn't there in the first place.Overall a solid little short film thanks to the slick car action – shame that this only makes up less than half of the running time and, while I appreciate what they tried to do with the other half (condensing a film down to 7 minutes) it didn't work and only produced empty narrative and plot holes galore.

Wow. This is yet another of the series of 8 brilliant short films commissioned by BMW that were released on the internet in 2001 and 2002. Apparently, somebody at the car maker had a butt-load of money and spent it assembling some of the top directors in the world (such as John Frankenheimer, Ang Lee and Wong Kar Wai) and gave them HUGE budgets and often top acting talent to make these shorts. Not surprisingly, a BMW is featured prominently in each short--in this case the tiny Z4. In addition, playing a James Bond-like hero (and anti-hero in one) is Clive Owen in all eight films! This one was directed by John Woo and I almost gave it a 10--it sure came darn close! Why was I so impressed? Well, because although all the films are great, this one is more like an entire full-length film shoved into only about 8 minutes! It manages to convey a heck of a lot and provide lots of twists in this tiny time frame. Tense, ironic and heart-pounding--this is definitely a must-see.

Once again the action is just wonderful (what else did you expect from a man like John Woo?) but the story itself is kind of lame and ridicules.Some of the things just don't make any sense and even though it's just a few minutes short, the movie is still filled with plot holes. Not Woo's fault, he just does what he can do best; Film breathtaking action sequence's. Also the movie is edited pretty poorly at times, especially towards the ending.The music by Steve Jablonsky also was one of the highlights of the movie. It was a good action score that suited the movie well. He is still an unknown composer but I expect this to change in the next few years. Remember this name people!Still slightly a bit of a disappointing part of "The Hire" series of shorts but still very well watchable, thanks to the action.6/10http://bobafett1138.blogspot.com/

BMW began a very clever ad campaign in 2002 with BMW Films, making short action-oriented films revolving around a mysterious BMW driver (Clive Owen) tasked with bizarre errands. Among BMW Films' early efforts is this quick drama directed by John Woo.Known only as The Driver, he is tasked with paying a $5 million ransom to a former burger-chain executive who has kidnapped the firm's beautiful chief executive. The perp has a cellular phone link to his victim, and forces The Driver to write down the exact amount of the ransom - leaving a cryptic clue to the woman's location before the FBI bursts in and the perp kills himself. Now The Driver must roar through LA, pursued by local cops, to find the hostage before she perishes.