Baby Driver: Movie Review

I am an Edgar Wright fan, so much so that I was really bummed out when he parted ways with Marvel’s “Ant-Man” a few years back.  “Shaun of the Dead” is a horror-comedy classic and “Scott Pilgrim vs. the World is a hugely underrated piece of modern cinema.  Wright’s latest, “Baby Driver” might not be his best work, but I have a feeling it will wind up being one of the most fun rides released in multiplexes this summer.

First thing, if you haven’t seen any trailers for the film, I should tell you that it has absolutely nothing to do with an infant driving a car.  The main character is a young man that goes by the name Baby (Ansel Elgort), who is working off a debt as a getaway driver for an Atlanta crime boss named Doc (Kevin Spacey).  The film begins with a bank heist in which Baby does some fancy driving to make sure Griff (Jon Bernthal), Buddy (Jon Hamm) and Darling (Eiza González) don’t get nabbed by the cops.  Everything turns out golden, but Baby’s next job doesn’t go so smoothly when career criminals Bats (Jamie Foxx) and his crew wind up killing someone.  This throw’s Baby through a loop and he begins to realize even more that this isn’t the life for him.

Baby has also fallen in love with Debora (Lily James), a local waitress who works at the diner his mom worked at before she passed away.  Baby falls for her the moment he hears her sing and with music being the thing he loves most in life, it makes total sense.  Speaking of music, one of the best things about “Baby Driver” is its’ soundtrack.  Each song selected for the film fits perfectly in the narrative and it’s beautiful.

I have seen “Baby Driver” twice, but the first time I missed the last twenty minutes due to uncontrollable circumstances.  I loved what I had seen so much, I needed to go back and actually finish it.  Unfortunately, the film’s final act keeps “Baby Driver” from being a great film, rather than just a very good one.  Thing’s go a bit off the rails in regards to one of the main characters and I just felt it was not the best of choices.  Regardless, “Baby Driver” has a great cast and delivers something a bit more old school which is fine by me.

By: Marc Ferman