Girl of the Day - Carey Mulligan

The Regular Son and I saw the new movie Drive last weekend.   It's a very interesting but very violent movie about a mysterious stunt driver/getaway driver/man-from-nowhere in which Ryan Gosling gets involved in a robbery that goes very very badly in an attempt to save the ex-con husband of the cute girl down the hall, played by Carey Mulligan.   Gosling is fast becoming my favorite young actor, particularly because he doesn't seem to act very much at all -- like a young Steve McQueen, he can just be silent and still on camera and still be interesting.   Mulligan is similar:  something about her face makes you want to like her and keep watching her.   What I've just described is what makes a movie star rather than just a movie actor -- there's some alchemy in the personality or face of the person that makes it impossible to take your eyes off them.   Forget about craft or training or acting workshops; it's all just magic.