Cinephile No. 668 "Baby Driver"

"Soundtrack of the Gods"

A Review of "Baby Driver" by Nathan H. Box

Director: Edgar Wright, Writer: Edgar Wright, Starring: Ansel Elgort, Jon Bernthal, Jon Hamm

Rating: 4 Stars, SHOWTIME!   

The plot of "Baby Driver" is pretty straightforward. After being forced into a working relationship with an Atlanta crime boss (Kevin Spacey), a young driver played by Ansel Elgort finds himself driving for thieves in a heist that seems doomed to fail from the beginning. See, straightforward. You've seen this movie before. You've seen "Gone in Sixty Seconds" and "Drive." What you haven't seen is an approach like this. 

"Baby Driver" drips with cool like Miles Davis' "Birth of the Cool" drips with cool. Now, now world don't get bent out of shape yet. "Birth of the Cool" changed the game. "Baby Driver" doesn't change cinema but it does remind us why we go to the movies and it wasted no time doing so. In my opinion, the first twenty minutes of this movie are some of the best I have ever spent watching in a dark theater. More than once, I leaned over to my partner, dropped some expletive, and shook my head because it was that awe inspiring. Not only does it have an amazing opening scene but it also features a soundtrack that sounds like a mixtape from the Gods. This movie features music that is stitched through the film like your mother would sew a button back on your trousers. It is tight, concise, and no song seems out of place. 

Of course, there are some nuances to the straightforward plot. Ultimately, it is a love story and like all love stories, things get complicated. To me, this is where the film gets really interesting. Baby's life of driving and escaping becomes even more important when there is someone he wants to return home to after a heist. This extra layer coupled with his boss' inability to let a debt be properly repaid makes this a movie worth seeing this summer. 

For the final thirty minutes, you will be glued to your seat wondering if Baby will get revenge, will all be revealed, or is everything you know wrong. When the dust is settled and you are given an ending you didn't expect, the credits begin to roll on what may be the best movie of the summer. Without a doubt, it is creative and flies in the face of the blockbuster. For that, it should be commended and you should purchase a ticket now. 

Be good to each other, 

-Nathan