Baby Driver was written and directed by Edgar Wright, one of
those rare directors who really understands how to make his motion pictures fun
(sometimes comically so) and
exciting. Wright’s previous movies have
included the slacker zombie comedy Shawn of the Dead (2004), the anal-retentive-cop
action-comedy Hot Fuzz (2007), the goofball-reunion/alien-apocalypse comedy
The Worlds End (2013), and the rock’n’roll rom-com action-fantasy Scott
Pilgrim vs. The World (2010). All of those films are recommended; all are funny
and action-y in different ways. Although the comedy is less of an emphasis, Baby
Driver is funny too, and the action is revved up and moved to the
forefront.
What sets this movie apart from the many other car-chase action
pictures is how exquisitely it integrates music into the story, and how the action
is (to repeat myself) literally choreographed to the tunes. How they did this is
a tribute to Wright and his team of editors and choreographers. Everything –
footsteps, car doors closing, winks, gunshots, footsteps – is syncopated to the
beats of the songs.
The film starts with a heist tied to the guitar riffs and heavy
drum beats of Bellbottoms by Joe
Spencer Blues Explosion with three robbers heading into an Atlanta bank, and our protagonist - the getaway driver called Baby (Ansel Elgort), sitting outside in his candy apple red Subaru WRX, bopping and miming to the sound and the beat, yet totally alert to the details of the job. Everything we see is tied to what Baby is (and we are) hearing. Later, another episode proceeds to the familiar but still cool strains of Tequila (by the Button Down Brass), punctuated by Jamie Foxx (one of the team members) exclaiming “Tequila!” just as a grenade goes boom, and they speed away.
All of the music is diegetic - a cinema term meaning that the songs we hear are not just a soundtrack, but actually are part of the story - being listened to by one or more of the characters either on the radio or, more often in this case, via earbuds connected to an iPod. It’s an eclectic collection of tunes from the likes of The Damned, Carla Thomas, Martha and the Vandellas, Queen and Golden Earring. Baby is never without his iPods (plural) and earbuds, nor his dark shades. He’s young. Seemingly imperturbable. And cool. But he’s also green and seemingly in a little over his head.
Not Edgar Wright though. He’s in total control. His film is
hip and stylish, zooms along at a good clip and is never dull. It owes much to
car-based action films like The Driver (1978) and Bullitt (1968),
but is more modern (needless to say) with the action sequences more
proficiently shot to feel more realistic. There’s also an acknowledged debt to
one of my favorites: Jon Landis’s The Blues Brothers (1980) with it’s
posse of police cars giving chase and a multiplicity of crashes.
The cast is well used. Kevin Spacey is Doc, the all-knowing
mastermind of the crime syndicate, a businessman one does not want to mess
with. Doc “owns” Baby for awhile, for reasons more or less explained along the
way. Doc likes to mix and match his operatives depending on the job. I’ve
already mentioned Jamie Foxx, whose character is a menacing nut-job aptly
called “Bats”. Jon Hamm is “Buddy”, a steadier type perhaps, but no less
dangerous. Buddy is in love with the sexy “Darling (Mexican actress Eiza
Gonzalez), another team member. Buddy and Darling are a Bonny and Clyde duo,
except they’re players, and not in charge. And then there’s a scary-looking Jon
Bernthal as “Griff”, someone you’d definitely not want your daughter to date. CJ
Jones deserves special mention for his role as Baby’s one-time foster parent,
Joseph, who is deaf, as is Jones. Joseph now requires Baby's help, which he provides gladly.
Baby’s love interest is Debora, a waitress at the diner, played
by Lily James (Rose on Downton Abbey).
I’ve seen James in a couple of other films always speaking with her native British accent (most
recently in this year’s The Exception), and was pleasantly surprised at
her mastery of an American accent and blue collar persona. Debora’s ready to
drop everything and head off with Baby down Thunder Road to the promised land,
as the Boss once sang, because with an engine revving, those two lanes can take
them anywhere, away from this town full of losers. Of course, it ain’t that easy, it never
is.
Director Wright has likened newcomer Ansel Elgort to a young
Tom Cruise in his break-out picture, Risky Business (1983). Just twenty-three
years old, Elgort seems a perfect fit for the role of Baby. Whether that’s good casting or good acting
remains to be seen, but he’s terrific here. Baby doesn’t talk much, and between
his dark glasses and his earpods, he can be hard to read. But when boppin’ to
his music and/or behind the wheel of whatever he’s driving he is fully engaged,
expressing himself kinetically rather than verbally. He also comes alive, showing
a softer, less guarded side of himself, whenever he’s with Debora. And in the
final action sequence, he seems pretty damn rugged.
Baby Driver does not strive to be deep, socially relevant or provocative. Its goal is to provide fun and visceral excitement, and its aim is true. That it does so in such an aesthetically pleasing way is quite an accomplishment.
If you see this movie at the cinema, take heed: When you
leave the theater, stop somewhere for a beverage or take a walk around the
block a few times before getting behind the wheel of your vehicle. Let your hyped
up adrenalin-enhanced state subside a little. And when you do get on the road,
you may want to check your speedometer regularly.
1 hour 53 minutes.
MPAA rating: R
Grade: A-
In general release.
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