So I just finished watching it and haven't totally decided where I stand.
On one hand, like everyone says, the cinematography and direction were great. Lots of interesting shot structure and camera movement, colors are bright and stylistic, and some of the scenes are heart-stoppingly tense. I kept making directorial comparisons to Breaking Bad (probably because of Bryan Cranston) in that almost every scene was "show, don't tell", which takes a certain degree of skill that is disappointingly absent in most Hollywood films. The director didn't cater to the Lowest Common Denominators in the audience.
The story itself was hit-or-miss for me. The love interest felt obtrusive and forced in what was an otherwise grim and serious film. Gosling and Mulligan have zero on-screen chemistry because their characters are flat and two dimensional, which makes sense for Gosling's character within his world of stunt driving/wheelmanning, but makes for some really boring romantic interaction. The rest of the story was totally solid, if not a bit unoriginal.
I'd give it a 7.5, maybe 8, out of 10. Without a doubt the best movie (that I saw advertised on TV) of 2011.
The hammer scene was so damn cool.
