1. It's not that Drive is such a crazy innovative movie that referencing details would ruin it. It's actually a pretty clear and straightforward story, if aggressively subtle. The spoilers would be micro rather than macro - I don't want to talk to much about those minute details because they are the fun part. You can pretty much tell the destination right away, but getting there is what makes Drive so enjoyable and memorable.
2. We meet our hero right away in a fun scene that establishes the premise of the trailer (stunt driver by day, heist wheelman-for-hire by night). Then there's a stretch of time where we are seeing his milquetoast life that never seems to jive with the after-hours gig. It builds and builds and then SHIT STARTS GOING DOWN and you're already too invested in the guy to not jump a little.
3. It's basically 30 minutes of Ryan Gosling and Carey Mulligan exchanging sweet-but-awkward smiles, then about 60 minutes of Gosling fucking up the people who interrupted him.
4. When Gosling starts said fucking-up, it happens so swiftly and brutally that it makes you revisit exactly what kind of movie you thought you were watching. Those moments of violence are brief but intense, making them feel more "real" and unsettling, like a middle ground between the Bourne trilogy and every Hit Girl scene from Kick-Ass.
5. If you like looking at Gosling's face, this is the movie for you. Every other scene seems to feature a shot where we just hold on our hero (whose name is never explicitly said, a detail that starts out interesting but gradually seems more convoluted) and watch him suppress a wealth of emotions. When people talk about how Gosling is The Next Great Actor, this is the kind of movie that showcases it - he is at once an action star and a tragically-flawed indie protagonist.
6. It is practically a western - the story of a quiet morally-grounded outlaw loner trying to right wrongs that were caused by his own mistakes. He slowly works his way through a series of increasingly-stickier conflicts as a man possessed and will not rest until he finds justice...or his idea of justice.
7. Even though everything rides (pun! because Drive!) on Gosling, there's not a single bad name in the supporting cast: Mulligan, Bryan Cranston, Albert Brooks, Ron Pearlman, Christina Hendricks. That combo should be enough to lure you to see a movie regardless of premise. What's more, all of them (with the probably exception of Pearlman) play a character that stands somewhat against the roles for which they are best known.
8. The combination of character and atmosphere lead to some interesting moments amidst the intense final half of the movie, including a few very funny moments that kind of catch you off guard. In general it feels like the film is constantly challenging genre tropes and audience expectations.
9. Everything is shot in a stylized and colorized format that I would ignorantly describe as "European" and the director, Nicolas Winding Refn, has cred overseas, specifically with the UK film Bronson (aka the movie that made everyone think Tom Hardy could play Bane). This is his first American film and I suspect he will get an opportunity for another. He's made The Black Keys of action films - something with a style and care aimed at more selective palettes with just enough appeal to draw a more general crowd.