Hit it . . .
Starring: Ansel Elgort, Lily James, Kevin Spacey, Jon Hamm, Jamie Foxx
Director: Edgar Wright
The Plot: Baby (Elgort) is an outstanding young getaway driver working for crime boss Doc (Spacey), to whom he owes a debt. Suffering from tinnitus due to a childhood accident, Baby listens to music constantly to drown out the sound. When he meets waitress Debora (James) he falls instantly in love and sees a way out of the life of crime, but Doc is not so willing to let him go and insists on one final job that may prove deadly . . .
Review: Films like this are why I go to the cinema. After a string of recent big-screen disappointments, it's wonderful to have a film arrive that's so original, so well-made and so fucking cool. Now, from my run-down of the plot you may be thinking original, really? It just sounds like a heist movie. Well, yes, but it's so much more than that. It's a heist movie, but it's also a musical, and a romance, and a comedy, and even has touches of a thriller. I haven't seen a film blend so many different genres, and blend them well, for a long time.
Let's start with the music, because it plays such an important part of this film. There's barely a scene where music isn't playing or isn't audible. The volume fades and rises as Baby takes off his earbuds then puts them back on again. Characters discuss music and sing along to songs (but not break into song, it's not a musical in the traditional sense). Entire scenes are written around and choreographed to specific songs - the most notable being the film's opening chase sequence, which is set to "Bellbottoms" by The John Spencer Blues Explosion and is something director Edgar Wright has been trying to get onto the big screen for years. The music in this film is a device that works incredibly well - we as the audience are being taken into Baby's world, and Baby's world revolves around music. It's his coping method not only for his medical condition but also for the trauma of the childhood accident that he's still trying to deal with, and as he's a character of not many words, it's the music that helps us to understand him. The soundtrack itself is also fantastic, an eclectic mix of tracks that span two CD's which I highly recommend.
Wright has assembled a fantastic ensemble cast here. Now, if you were aware of Ansel Elgort from The Fault In Our Stars and the Divergent series, you may be wondering if can he pull off a character like Baby? Well, I'm happy to report that he can. With his shades, headphones and quiet demeanor he's almost effortlessly cool. There's something inherently likeable about Baby - behind the wheel he's all-business, but beyond it he's very much a young man. It's easy to see why the death of his mother still affects him, or why he falls so helplessly for Debora. He's not a complete badass - despite his driving talent, he's uncomfortable around guns and violence, and Elgort nails both sides of the character. He's funny, charming but also vulnerable, which makes it all the more easier to root for him.
Lily James, unfortunately, isn't given as much to work with and it's the one real disappointment of the film for me. There's nothing wrong with her performance - she's great - but her character isn't as fleshed out as the others and suffers for it. Debora is the perfect match for Baby, sharing his love of music and the desire to leave the past behind, but the reasons for that aren't explored very well and as she becomes the most important person in his life, it's a shame that we aren't given more of her backstory. Their chemistry together is great though, so it doesn't spoil the performance, but I do wonder if more scenes with Debora were shot that had to be trimmed out.
Kevin Spacey is on typically fine form as Doc, the mastermind of the heists to whom Baby is bound. There's a rhyming quality to his dialogue and he has some of the best lines in them film (he introduces one new member of the crew with "He puts the Asian in home invasion"), and while he defends Baby there's also a sense of menace to him - it's up to the audience to decide if he's the villain here or not. John Hamm is clearly having a whale of a time as Buddy who, paired with Eliza Gonzalez's Darling, make up the Bonnie and Clyde element of Doc's crew, although it doesn't take long to see through their bravado. Jamie Foxx rounds out the crew as Bats, the most menacing of the bunch although not quite living up to the "crazy" reputation of his character. All of the actors bounce off each other well and some of the best dialogue and laughs comes from the scenes where they're together.
Given the nature of the film you'd expect some serious car chases, and Baby Driver delivers in spades. From the opening sequence as Baby tears around the city in a Subaru to the final one within the confines of a car park, we're treated to some of the finest chase sequences I've seen in a film since Drive. Kudos to the stunt drivers who worked on it, as this is thrilling stuff. It's a beautifully shot film - we've already seen from his previous films that Wright has a fine eye and it continues here.
Baby Driver has been a labour of love for Edgar Wright. It's taken him many years to get it made, and I'm so glad that he did as this is his best work to date. There wasn't a moment during this film where I wasn't grinning, laughing, tapping my foot, nodding my head or (quietly for the sake of my fellow cinema patrons) yelling out, or a combination of the above. It's exciting, it's funny, it's tense, and there's a real heart to it as well. Above all, it's just incredibly cool. I loved it!
Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
A strong contender for the best film I've seen this year. Thrilling car chases, great performances, laughs, romance, and one of the best soundtracks (and uses of a soundtrack) you'll find in any film. One of the coolest films I've ever seen - go and see it right now.
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