REVIEW: BABY DRIVER
It seems to me Edgar Wright is incapable of making uninteresting films, and the film he tried to make interesting, 2015's Ant-Man, well, he got let go of. Peyton Reed did a serviceable, if anonymous job on the project, a true Marvel crowd-pleaser, but one can't wonder what hyper-fast superhero treat Wright could have served to the masses. But if it means he keeps making films like Baby Driver, let us all hope Mr. Wright never makes another big studio movie.
First off, kudos to was involved in the casting of this film, because budding talent Ansel Elgort alongside villainous turns by Kevin Spacey, Jamie Foxx and Jon Hamm was a stroke of genius. Perhaps it was just the inner cinephile in me yelping for joy, but this is one of the best ensembles all year. In a nutshell, Baby (Elgort) is a getaway driver for Doc (Spacey), who masterminds heists in sometimes very dangerous plans. Baby has tinnitus, resulting from an injury when he was a child, and listens to an audiofile's dream smorgasbord of music to drown out the ringing. For no good reason, other than many of the criminals Doc enlists are hot-headed and temperamental, this leads to a distrust of Baby, a conflict that lasts throughout the film that he's better than them. This includes Jon Bernthal as Griff, said hot-head who interrogates Baby after a perfect getaway...and then disappears for the rest of the movie. After watching the second season of "Daredevil," it was disappointing to get five minutes of Bernthal after seeing him work wonders as a much better hot-head for twelve episodes.
And that's really where the critiques stop. Editors Paul Macliss and Jonathan Amos should be splitting an Academy Award come the top of next year, because it absolutely makes the movie. After watching Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz, the whipfast cutting and stylish transitions made for quick, rapid-fire comedy, but here it elevates the pace of Baby Driver to where you're nearly breathless with trying to keep up...but that's how you should feel! Baby is trying to balance escaping from Doc's crime world, take care of his deaf foster father Joseph (a wonderful CJ Jones, who hasn't been talked about as much as he should be) and peruse a possible romance with waitress Debora (Lily James, who has wowed me over since I haven't seen Pride and Prejudice and Zombies or the latest Cinderella reboot). Baby and Debora have palpable chemistry, even if their desire to "leave with nothing but the road and music" is painful movie idealism, but you learn to see past those flaws since Wright is trying his hardest to wow us.
So, consider me wowed. The playlist and the A-list actors (Jamie Foxx and Jon Hamm round out some wildly memorable and charismatic villain turns) could've ballooned this movie to $100 million in a studio's hands, but at a modest $32 million, I don't know how Wright got licensing to the onslaught of songs that drown out Baby's demons and keep the audience enthralled. Sony (no surprise) is already having sequel talk with Wright, but Baby Driver is perfect as one-off, pulpy entertainment, edited and choreographed to the T. It's box office success has already prevented it from being labeled as "the most underrated movie of the year," so go see it and help contribute to its success.
Rating: 3.5/4 stars
First off, kudos to was involved in the casting of this film, because budding talent Ansel Elgort alongside villainous turns by Kevin Spacey, Jamie Foxx and Jon Hamm was a stroke of genius. Perhaps it was just the inner cinephile in me yelping for joy, but this is one of the best ensembles all year. In a nutshell, Baby (Elgort) is a getaway driver for Doc (Spacey), who masterminds heists in sometimes very dangerous plans. Baby has tinnitus, resulting from an injury when he was a child, and listens to an audiofile's dream smorgasbord of music to drown out the ringing. For no good reason, other than many of the criminals Doc enlists are hot-headed and temperamental, this leads to a distrust of Baby, a conflict that lasts throughout the film that he's better than them. This includes Jon Bernthal as Griff, said hot-head who interrogates Baby after a perfect getaway...and then disappears for the rest of the movie. After watching the second season of "Daredevil," it was disappointing to get five minutes of Bernthal after seeing him work wonders as a much better hot-head for twelve episodes.
And that's really where the critiques stop. Editors Paul Macliss and Jonathan Amos should be splitting an Academy Award come the top of next year, because it absolutely makes the movie. After watching Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz, the whipfast cutting and stylish transitions made for quick, rapid-fire comedy, but here it elevates the pace of Baby Driver to where you're nearly breathless with trying to keep up...but that's how you should feel! Baby is trying to balance escaping from Doc's crime world, take care of his deaf foster father Joseph (a wonderful CJ Jones, who hasn't been talked about as much as he should be) and peruse a possible romance with waitress Debora (Lily James, who has wowed me over since I haven't seen Pride and Prejudice and Zombies or the latest Cinderella reboot). Baby and Debora have palpable chemistry, even if their desire to "leave with nothing but the road and music" is painful movie idealism, but you learn to see past those flaws since Wright is trying his hardest to wow us.So, consider me wowed. The playlist and the A-list actors (Jamie Foxx and Jon Hamm round out some wildly memorable and charismatic villain turns) could've ballooned this movie to $100 million in a studio's hands, but at a modest $32 million, I don't know how Wright got licensing to the onslaught of songs that drown out Baby's demons and keep the audience enthralled. Sony (no surprise) is already having sequel talk with Wright, but Baby Driver is perfect as one-off, pulpy entertainment, edited and choreographed to the T. It's box office success has already prevented it from being labeled as "the most underrated movie of the year," so go see it and help contribute to its success.
Rating: 3.5/4 stars
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