Cars, guns, and hot tunes make for a summer party.
Edgar Wright isn’t messing around with his newest work. Baby Driver combines menace, romance, and palpitation-inducing action for the feel-everything hit of the summer.
The story follows Baby (Ansel Elgort), a good guy doing bad things, as he helps ferry crooks from the scene of the crime. Ferry doesn’t quite capture the dynamite he delivers on the street, but he does get the job done.
The man who keeps him on the wrong side of the law is Doc (Kevin Spacey), a rich man getting richer with the help of some seedy characters. Spacey doesn’t have to try to hard in this one, but manages to be despicable and honorable in turns.
The linchpin of the whole movie is music. From the opening chase song “Bellbottoms” by The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, the film thumps and struts with a soundtrack as good as any this decade. Most of the songs are from the recent and distant past, and the fact that they are played on now-obsolete technology like iPods keeps the feel timely but not cutting edge. It’s a great look for a movie that could have been made in the ‘70s.
Wright gets even more clever with sound than just a good track list. In what could easily be an eye-rolling technical achievement, he choreographs small and large movements on screen to matching strums and drums in the songs. Doors get unlocked in 4/4 time, and a shootout turns into a percussion festival. It’s done so well that it’s both impressive and not overbearing the rest of the film. Wright is almost showing off, but he’s so good it’s forgivable.
The robbers Baby gets in and out of trouble are an interesting lot, led by the psychotic Bats (Jamie Foxx) and Buddy (Jon Hamm) who, along with girlfriend Darling (Eiza González), provides a little seedy romance to the action.
The real romance happens in a diner, when Baby meets Debora (Lily James), and these two young lovebirds steal the show. They’re both so pure and sweet the audience can’t help but root for them. They are the gold heart of an often cynical story, and their budding love keeps the film from becoming action dreck.
The city of Atlanta hosts all the action, and it is a welcome change of pace from faceless Toronto and Vancouver or over-saturated LA and New York. The accents, the food, and the still urban decor make for a fantastic home for Baby Driver.
Movies with high-powered chase scenes don’t often contend for Oscars, and Baby Driver might not either, but its mix of strong characters with great acting and plot that slithers around until landing with a punch means this movie will make for a lot of fun, summer nights.
