Baby Driver Review – Awesome; Solid; An Instant Classic

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Category: Film

Published on Friday, 23 June 2017 07:55

Written by Janet Walker

Baby Driver, from Tri Star Pictures, presents a bad ass, awesome, heist film that captures the attention from the first scenes as our underdog remains calm as he provides the great escape for Atlanta’s most notorious inside man.

Written and directed by Edgar Wright, Baby Driver stars, Ansel Elgort, Kevin Spacey, Jon Hamm, Jamie Foxx, Jon Bernthal, Eiza Gonzalez, Micah Howard, Lily James, CJ Jones, Morse Diggs, Sky Ferreira, Lance Palmer, and Brogan Hall as Samm.

We met Baby, played by Ansel Elgort, a hustler who boosted the wrong automobile and when Atlanta’s most notorious mobster, Doc, played by Kevin Spacey, tracked him down the choice was clear as Doc says, “behind the wheel or in a wheelchair.”

Faced with that choice Baby became the heist driver. Soon as we find out, Baby can drive. Not just drive; Baby can boost, out run the chase, dance across the pavement like a skipping stone on water. He is the picture of calm.

We met Buddy, played by Jon Hamm, and his lovely Darling, played by Eiza Gonzalez, part of the four-man job in the opening sequence. They are captor and hostage. The fourth man on the job is Griff, played by Jon Bernthal, who sees trouble in his shadow. The job is done, the spoils split, the man paid and even while Baby is working off his debt, Doc pays him.

Soon Baby is back at the warehouse penthouse, Doc has another job, and as he never uses the same crew twice, we meet Bats, played by Jamie Foxx, a street thug with a quick trigger, Eddie, played by Flea and JD, played by Lanny Joon.

Our main team Jon Hamm, Jamie Foxx, Eiza Gonzalez are the front, with Baby as the getaway. When you add uncontrollable to the circumstances the ease of the heist becomes more difficult not only with the unexpected variables of the robbery, but the possibility of a powder keg exploding in the middle of the job.

With the heists coming in quick succession, Baby’s debt is paid and now that he has met someone, Debora, played by Lily James, who speaks to his loneliness and he to hers, his only desire is to live hers and “head west in a car I can’t afford, with a plan I don’t have.” The road, a new life, a fresh start, hope pulls them closer.

We find out that Baby was raised in a foster home by Joseph, played by CJ Jones, who is deaf. The two communicate through sign language which is typed out on screen, in side bars, and not like usual foreign language bottom of the screen subtitle translation.

The two have grown to love each other, Baby’s parents, his mother a singer, played by Sky Ferreira and his father, played by Lance Palmer, fought terribly, with vicious physical abuse, and the last time, they fought as we find out she rear ended a semi-tractor trailer. He was spared except for the memories and a slight hearing loss.

With Debora in the picture, the need for Baby to take the nearest exit from this doomed road, and get back on the straight and narrow, finding a way to hide and use his street racing, stunt driver skills for something other than crime.

Baby Driver is an awesome thrill ride, from beginning to end, with sharp dialogue, unexpected plot twists and turns, shoot outs, car chases and final confrontations. With Baby at the wheel and Bats, uncontrollable, Baby makes all the decisions.

Unsure if the squeals are the tires or the girls as Baby get behind the wheel, with concentration, maneuvers the chosen vehicle with precision through obstacles, city streets, parking garages.

Edger Wright, who is on the verge of becoming the next most in demand director of fast action, heightened suspense, thrill rides, in the genre of an unnamed eight installment, global franchise of fast cars, street actions scenes.

His work on Baby Driver is genius. More than the street car scenes, even the foot chase scenes are choreographed pieces of art and dance. Wright has the audience is in the driver seat, we see the hairpin turns, feel the oncoming destruction, the heightened impossibility of the next curve and our Baby, skilled and yes, able to conquer with the right music.

The soundtrack is worth mentioning. A music man, one is assuming the director has a love for tunes as our underdog has multiple iPods with enough tunes to last his lifetime and if one looks closely as he speaks with Joe in their apartment one can see the extensive album selection in the background.   

The cast is solid. Jamie Foxx mesmerizes. His talent is stunning; Kevin Spacey, it seems almost redundant to call out the talent of the cast; this cast makes this film pop, crackle with electricity, explode.  Jon Hamm, a Modern Family good dad, hits bad, evil with exactness and remains dangerously appealing.  Eiza Gonzalez, who is new to me, was the expression of using one’s feminine wiles and the woman holds a gun with truth. Lily James and Ansel Elgort are the cutest couple on the big screen. It’s a real treat to see.

Wright remained true to the details; making sure all the loose ends were dealt with all aspects of the storyline were completed or address.

Baby Driver will infuse the box office with new energy; It is sleek, with all the fine lines and appeal of a showroom beauty. Fine finish, four on the floor, zero to sixty in 30 seconds. Lock on the seat belt, Baby Driver is a wild, exhilarating, roller-coaster journey.

Baby Driver is the kind of film that leaves you imagining and for those who suppress the wanderlust, the call of open road, the freedom, Baby Driver brings the road to you.

Solid mileage; Baby Driver is one ride worth the stop at the Box office.

Baby Driver opens, in all markets, June 28, 2017. Check your local listings.