MOVIE OF THE WEEK #1 (6/28-6/30/17): BABY DRIVER
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| "Take my hand - there's gonna be the next line in it!" Debora (Lily James) finds herself charmed by Baby (Ansel Elgort) in a scene from writer/director Edgar Wright's adrenaline-fueled action movie BABY DRIVER. Credit: © 2016 Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. All rights reserved. |
KEY CAST MEMBERS: Ansel Elgort, Kevin Spacey, Lily James, John Hamm, Eiza González, C.J. Jones and Jon Bernthal
WRITER(S): Edgar Wright
DIRECTOR(S): Edgar Wright
WEB SITE: http://www.babydriver-movie.com/
HERE'S THE STORY: Baby (Ansel Elgort) is a young man with a very particular skill – driving –and an essential need for headphones (it helps him drown out the tinnitus that has been bothering him since a very young age when a certain life-changing incident began bothering him just as much if not more). And Baby uses those headphones with his skill, which is why Doc (Kevin Spacey) didn't kill him when he first made his acquaintance.
Instead, Doc put Baby to work as the getaway driver for all of the bank robberies he plans around Atlanta where he, Baby and Baby's adopted deaf grandfather Joseph (C.J. Jones) all live. Doc has promised Baby once his debt is paid up that he will no longer have to drive for him ... But if you know anything about criminals – let alone criminals in movies like these – you'll know there's hardly ever any true honor among thieves. And if you know anything about movies like these, it will come as no surprise that Baby eventually crosses paths with Debora (Lily James), the proverbial girl of his music-filled dreams with whom he'd love to drive away from Atlanta with in hopes of starting a new life.
But there's just one problem – Doc keeps coming up with jobs for Baby and the crew he keeps getting paired up with keep getting crazier and crazier. And while he can handle Buddy (Jon Hamm) and his lover Darling (Eiza González), the unpredictable Bats (Jamie Foxx) might be the end of him ...
Oh Baby ... Do you know where you're going to? Do you like the things life is showing you? The only way to find out if you will, however, is to ... Keep reading below!
HERE'S THE STORY: Baby (Ansel Elgort) is a young man with a very particular skill – driving –and an essential need for headphones (it helps him drown out the tinnitus that has been bothering him since a very young age when a certain life-changing incident began bothering him just as much if not more). And Baby uses those headphones with his skill, which is why Doc (Kevin Spacey) didn't kill him when he first made his acquaintance.
Instead, Doc put Baby to work as the getaway driver for all of the bank robberies he plans around Atlanta where he, Baby and Baby's adopted deaf grandfather Joseph (C.J. Jones) all live. Doc has promised Baby once his debt is paid up that he will no longer have to drive for him ... But if you know anything about criminals – let alone criminals in movies like these – you'll know there's hardly ever any true honor among thieves. And if you know anything about movies like these, it will come as no surprise that Baby eventually crosses paths with Debora (Lily James), the proverbial girl of his music-filled dreams with whom he'd love to drive away from Atlanta with in hopes of starting a new life.
But there's just one problem – Doc keeps coming up with jobs for Baby and the crew he keeps getting paired up with keep getting crazier and crazier. And while he can handle Buddy (Jon Hamm) and his lover Darling (Eiza González), the unpredictable Bats (Jamie Foxx) might be the end of him ...
Oh Baby ... Do you know where you're going to? Do you like the things life is showing you? The only way to find out if you will, however, is to ... Keep reading below!
WHO WILL LIKE THIS FILM THE MOST? Fans of Edgar Wright's previous work, especially Scott Pilgrim vs. the World; people who enjoy Grindhouse style films; anyone who was a fan of the movie Free Fire that came out earlier this year; those who like adrenaline filled movies with very defined, strong characters; Jamie Foxx fans; people who miss 80s and 90s style music videos
WHO WON'T (OR SHOULDN'T) LIKE THIS MOVIE? People will find the third act a bit too cartoony; those who don't like excessive violence; people who won't appreciate the film's somewhat more realistic ending; those who find the film's ever-present soundtrack as overshadowing/too essential to make the story watchable
SO, IS IT GOOD, BAD OR ABSOLUTELY AWFUL? Here are the good things Baby Driver has going for it: the cast is 100% committed to the story and their roles within it – Jamie Foxx is all in (and somewhat surprisingly/effectively terrifying) as Bats and Elgort's role is easily his best performance to date; writer/director Edgar Wright makes the driving scenes both intriguing and believable and uses the music Baby listens to as a character in and of itself and the story does not move in a predictable fashion with indestructible characters who also feel like they could only exist in the movie's reality.
What may distract people, however, is the somewhat cartoony nature of the film's action finale. While somewhat more realistic than the average action movie, the way in which some of the characters escape certain fates and endure others seems almost imported from a different film than the one you've been previously watching. Likewise, the short, snappy nature of certain scenes feel a bit unnecessarily drawn out in the latter stages of the film before Wright reels himself in again, when a few simple edits could have made for a much tighter product.
Other than those minor detractions, Baby Driver is a welcome change of an action movie, proving that character-based stories will always be more interesting and watchable than big, special effects-driven disasters. Elgort barely speaks in the film, but all of his actions feature purpose that help develop his character, a far cry from the days when his character in The Divergent Series did a lot of talking without actually adding anything to his role. Of course, Wright deserves a lot of credit for shaping the overlook look, feel and vibe of the story (he did write it, after all), taking the best elements from his previous music-filled opus Scott Pilgrim vs. the World and using audio so effectively in doing what it needs to do when Elgort's character isn't going to do it on his own.
But given everything the film does as a whole on its own to make it worth seeing at least once, Baby Driver doesn't need to catch a ride to stand out from other offerings this month at the cineplex.
SO, IS IT GOOD, BAD OR ABSOLUTELY AWFUL? Here are the good things Baby Driver has going for it: the cast is 100% committed to the story and their roles within it – Jamie Foxx is all in (and somewhat surprisingly/effectively terrifying) as Bats and Elgort's role is easily his best performance to date; writer/director Edgar Wright makes the driving scenes both intriguing and believable and uses the music Baby listens to as a character in and of itself and the story does not move in a predictable fashion with indestructible characters who also feel like they could only exist in the movie's reality.
What may distract people, however, is the somewhat cartoony nature of the film's action finale. While somewhat more realistic than the average action movie, the way in which some of the characters escape certain fates and endure others seems almost imported from a different film than the one you've been previously watching. Likewise, the short, snappy nature of certain scenes feel a bit unnecessarily drawn out in the latter stages of the film before Wright reels himself in again, when a few simple edits could have made for a much tighter product.
Other than those minor detractions, Baby Driver is a welcome change of an action movie, proving that character-based stories will always be more interesting and watchable than big, special effects-driven disasters. Elgort barely speaks in the film, but all of his actions feature purpose that help develop his character, a far cry from the days when his character in The Divergent Series did a lot of talking without actually adding anything to his role. Of course, Wright deserves a lot of credit for shaping the overlook look, feel and vibe of the story (he did write it, after all), taking the best elements from his previous music-filled opus Scott Pilgrim vs. the World and using audio so effectively in doing what it needs to do when Elgort's character isn't going to do it on his own.
But given everything the film does as a whole on its own to make it worth seeing at least once, Baby Driver doesn't need to catch a ride to stand out from other offerings this month at the cineplex.
OVERALL RATING (OUT OF FOUR POSSIBLE BUCKETS OF POPCORN):
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