Drive Hard
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Theatrical release poster
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| Directed by | Brian Trenchard-Smith |
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| Music by | Bryce Jacobs |
| Cinematography | Tony O'Louglan |
| Edited by | Peter Carrodus |
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Production
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Odyssey Media
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Release date
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Running time
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96 minutes |
| Country | Australia |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $12 million |
Drive Hard (originally titled Hard Drive) is a 2014 Australian action comedy film directed by Brian Trenchard-Smith and written by Chad Law, Evan Law, and Smith. A professional thief (John Cusack) takes a former race car driver (Thomas Jane) hostage and forces him to drive his getaway car.
Former race car driver and American expatriate Peter Roberts has retired at the urging of his lawyer wife, though he resists getting an office job. Instead, he becomes an instructor at a driving school, while waiting for an investment opportunity to open a racing school. After he drops his daughter off to school and learns that he can no longer afford her private school tuition, he takes a fellow American as his first client. The man, Simon Keller, reveals that he has investigated Roberts' finances and personal life. Disturbed, Roberts insists on ending the lesson and returning to the school. Keller agrees but requests that they stop at a bank first, so that he can pay Roberts.
As Keller exits the bank, he opens fire on the guards, drops a bag into the car, and demands that Roberts serve as his getaway driver. Roberts protests in disbelief and attempts to surrender to the police, who open fire on him, too. Roberts reluctantly drives off and evades the police. Keller offers to share a percentage of his loot, but the panicked Roberts insists that he is now going to end up in jail. Keller assures him that the police will not pursue them, as the bank is owned and managed by a criminal syndicate with connections to the local police. Rossi, Keller's former associate, had previously betrayed him in the United States and then joined the Australian syndicate.
Rossi calls off the police and hires mercenaries to kill them. However, Agent Walker of the Australian Federal Police takes charge of the investigation over the objections of the corrupt Detective Chief Inspector Smith. Walker immediately threatens Rossi and Smith, both of whom she suspects to be part of the syndicate. Meanwhile, Keller and Roberts argue over Roberts' disappointment in his life, which Keller states is the result of giving up on his dreams. Upset, Roberts refuses to drive any further, and Keller shoots him with a rubber bullet. The two change cars, and Roberts once again becomes the reluctant driver.
After they evade Rossi's assassins, the car fails, and they pull into a reception hall. The owners recognize them, and an elderly woman viciously attacks Roberts after accidentally shooting her husband. Roberts and Keller escape in the husband's sports car and stop for gas. There, they are again recognized and attacked, though the cashier accidentally kills himself with his own shotgun. At Keller's urging, Roberts phones the police and his wife, telling both that he has been taken hostage, though neither believe him at first. In order to heighten Roberts' fear and make him more believable, Keller puts a gun to Roberts' head and threatens to kill him. In response, Roberts briefly holds Keller at gunpoint with the elderly woman's pistol, but he surrenders it when he realizes that it is empty.
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Wikipedia