Baby Driver
Director: Edgar Wright
Talent: Ansel Elgort, Kevin Spacey, Lily James, Eiza González
Released: 28th June
Heist flicks are a dime a dozen, but Edgar Wright’s Baby Driver stands out from the crowd thanks to a cleverly executed central gimmick and a surprisingly sweet and romantic core. The movie is also a strong showcase for actor Ansel Elgort, an impossibly pretty young fellow who has made a career of popping up in every YA adaptation under the sun; straying now from his comfort zone and asked to carry a film for the first time, he more than rises to the occasion, supported by an excellent cast in top form.
Elgort plays the titular Baby, a supernaturally gifted getaway driver who uses his skills to work off a large debt to a ruthless gangster (Spacey). After falling for waitress Debora (James) and finally squaring up with his boss, Baby decides to abandon the life of crime and hit the road with his new sweetheart, but then reluctantly agrees to one last job—of course he does—and is thrown together with a motley crew of violent criminals, including unpredictable psycho Bats (Foxx), sadistic coke-head Buddy (Hamm), and Buddy’s trigger-happy girlfriend Darling (Gonzales). Plot-wise, this is all fairly standard fare, but Wright has a few tricks up his sleeve.
You see, as a result of the childhood car crash that took the lives of his parents, Baby suffers from a permanent case of tinnitus which he drowns out by constantly listening to music, and everything in the movie, from the romantic passages to the bone-crunching fights and the expertly staged chase sequences, is choreographed to the beat of whatever happens to be blasting on his iPod. Rarely, at least outside of musicals, has the soundtrack played such a key role in shaping both the action and the audience’s understanding of character. Wright attempted something similar in his adaptation of the Scott Pilgrim series with only partial success, but here it works like a charm, and his song choices—which include numbers by T-Rex, Queen and Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, plus of course the Simon & Garfunkel cut that gives the film its title—are all perfectly judged, reflecting not only the director’s impeccable taste, but just how well conceived this movie really is. Wright has stated in interviews that he began to develop Baby Driver fifteen years ago, and the evidence is most definitely on screen.
The script, Wright’s first solo effort, is also a real corker, clever and consistently funny without ever becoming overly verbose, in the vein of a Diablo Cody, for example. The cast, furthermore, are clearly relishing the abundance of one-liners and pop culture gags. The relationship between Baby and Debora unfolds over the course of just a handful of endearing exchanges, and could have been lifted straight out of a Bruce Springsteen song: wide-eyed and innocent to begin with, before receiving a brutal reality check. But Wright is a far more optimistic writer than the Boss ever was, and you will likely come out of this excellent movie smiling from ear-to-ear.
Highly recommended.
Words – Felipe Deakin
Image – Baby Driver by Fatti Burke
