haunting indie film about cab drivers
Added 5/18/2005
I've seen DRIVEN several times. It's a "slice of life" about a group of cab drivers who work for one of Los Angeles's smaller cab companies.
Naturally, these cabbies are a disparate bunch, each with their own quirks and dreams and foibles. There's the Jewish sports nut (Daniel Roebuck) who takes bets on the side. The black divorcee (Tony Todd) whose ex-wife still loves him but considers him a loser. His dream is to own a small store. There's the new guy (Chad Lowe) who loves being a cabbie -- the others just "don't get" him. And there's the tight-lipped guy (Whip Hubley) who won't open up to anyone. Then one night he meets someone who may be the woman of his dreams (Diane Dilascio), but will she overlook his lowly job?
All the actors are above average in their roles. Great jobs all around.
DRIVEN is a dark, moody, memorable film, with many "messages," the most prominent being: Don't judge someone by his job.
Its milieu is similar to HELLCAB, but DRIVEN is much better. Both films are set around Christmas time, contrasting the city's joyous yuletide lights with the cabbies unhappy lives. DRIVEN is also superior to 3A.M., yet another "slice of life" film about cabbies.
DRIVEN is only marred by its artificially happy endings. Everything's depressing until the last five or ten minutes, when someone is killed. The survivors are then motivated to take a chance on their dreams, and suddenly everything turns out happy for everyone.
The DVD introduces yet another flaw to the film: apart from no special features (aside from a trailer) -- the DVD is FULL SCREEN! Which is always a shame, but especially for indie art films such as DRIVEN.
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