Baby Driver: A Review
What makes a great movie? More specifically, what makes a great action movie? One might conjure up images of a dashing hero or sexy heroine, a notorious bad guy, some intense fight scenes, fast-paced car chases, and epic explosions — and lots of these are common components found in popular action films. However, Baby Driver, plays a slightly different hand when it came to plot development. In this case, the story revolves around a reclusive and young getaway driver nicknamed “Baby” (Ansel Elgort), a refreshing disgression from the typical good-guy, bad-guy dynamic often portrayed in action movies, although there are plenty of wild car chases and bad guys as well.
Baby is a young man living in Atlanta, Georgia with his deaf foster father, Joseph. He has been plagued with tinnitus (a constant ringing in the ears typically caused by physical trauma) after he survived a car accident that killed both of his parents as a child; he often listens to music to drown out the incessant noise and seldom parts with his trusty iPod and headphones, always putting together mix-tapes and voice recordings of everyday conversations that he hears. Baby is not a vocal character, but he is always listening and he is just as intelligent as he is reckless. His life as a getaway driver began when he was caught stealing a car that belonged to Doc (Kevin Spacey), an infamous pilfering mastermind. Impressed with Baby’s quick reflexes and skill behind the wheel, Doc coerced him into ferrying his henchmen (Jamie Foxx, John Hamm, and Eliza González). Despite it being a lucrative job, Baby’s career as a getaway driver starts to go south when he falls in love with a waitress named Deborah (Lily James) at a local diner.
One of the immediate attention grabbers of the movie is its impressive cast. Kevin Spacey is the perfect choice to play the manipulative gangster after his performance in House of Cards. On the other hand, actors such as John Hamm and Ansel Elgort performed exceptionally well given that they aren’t typically cast in action thrillers. Jamie Foxx is also another dynamic actor who can play both a violent criminal and a sweet, samba-loving canary (referring to his role as Nico in Rio). Overall, the entire cast is extremely talented and their performance (as well as their credentials) prove just that.
There are a lot of unique aspects to this film, including the significance of the music and how it dictates the actions that are seen on screen. The director and writer, Edgar Wright, based the story’s plotline off of the eclectic soundtrack he created starting with the song “Bellbottoms” by The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion in the first scene. Every montage, car door slam, engine rev, gunshot, grenade explosion, turn, step, and (practically) breath is synchronized to the tempo of the music. This makes for one aesthetically pleasing, euphonious, dream-like montage and its adds that thrill factor that other movies simply don’t possess.
Another unique attribute of the movie is the inclusion of sign language between Baby and his deaf foster father. Their exchanges not only give a brief insight into the life of the vocally mute, but also contrasts Baby and his tinnitus condition — he hears too much and his foster father hears nothing at all — creating an ironic situation of sorts. It’s also interesting how sign language and the deaf community made its way into a movie based off of sound and music, but the irony enhanced the complexity of the plot and the way that the movie was filmed and I enjoyed that aspect of the movie.
Baby Driver is not your average action-thriller. It’s far more complex, unique, and satisfying to watch than any superhero, spy, or war movie I have seen yet. This was Wright’s highest-grossing film yet with an impressive $224.5 million box office profit since its release and it has received critical acclaim from across the board (Wikipedia). It’s a definite must-see for those who have a need-for-speed and a desire for a fresh perspective in the action-thriller genre.
