Baby Driver★★★★1/2
Baby drives the car
The crazies take the money
Music runs the show
After being coerced into working for a crime boss, a young getaway driver finds himself taking part in a heist doomed to fail.
I knew very little about Baby Driver going into the movie, even though I'd watched the trailer. I did know that it was an Edgar Wright film, however, and being a fan of his other films—The Cornetto Trilogy, Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, etc.—I wanted to see it regardless. And I'm very glad I did; the movie is a total delight, and a unique one at that.
First of all, the music in this movie is fantastic—and there's a lot of it. Baby (Ansel Elgort) listens to songs through his various iPods for the entire film, and there are more song lyrics than actual dialogue. (I think, don't quote me on that.) The music is in itself a character, and is used in a way that adds so much emphasis and complexity to an otherwise pretty simple story. Without the music, Baby Driver would be just another heist movie. A fun one, mind you, thanks to the characters, but nothing spectacular.
Ansel does a great job at the quiet, reserved Baby. He's also surprisingly lithe for such a tall dude, as shown by his dancing early on in the film. His soft-spoken nature is juxtaposed with the over the top antics of Buddy (Jon Hamm), Darling (Eiza González), and Bats (Jamie Foxx), who are all crazy, but in the best kind of (criminally insane) way. Kevin Spacey is great as the ringleader, Doc; he's the sort of guy that you wouldn't really notice if you passed him on the street, but getting on his bad side is the absolute worst thing you could do. Lily James is sweet as Debora, but I feel like pretty much any young actor her age could have played the role and it would have had the same impact. The real stand-out for me is CJ Jones as Baby's foster dad, Joseph. The man is ADORABLE.
I also really dug how the plot escalated toward the end. No spoilers, but it makes a lot of sense if you've seen other Edgar Wright films. It had me cackling in my seat. And the car chases were so great. It's hard to go wrong with some fancy driving antics, in my book.
I highly recommend seeing Baby Driver in theaters, both because it's a lot of fun and to show Hollywood that there's a definite interest in this kind of under-the-radar film.
Check it out:
No comments
Leave a comment?