This Is 40 is Apatow’s most wholesome film, structurally, it might be his messiest. The film is certainly uneven. Then again, so is life.

You know this story and its elements by heart. A basically good-hearted hero with a dark side. A woman in trouble. A femme fatale. Powerful forces of evil conspiring to drag our hero to his demise. Quiet, atmospheric contemplation. Fast cars and city lights. Nicolas Winding Refn’s Drive is a 50s noir, filtered through a 70s existential thriller, all dressed up as a neon-bathed, synthesizer-scored 80s L.A. action flick. Yet no matter how well versed you are in its influences, you’ve never seen a movie quite like this before.