Miscellaneous
Hitch a ride with Baby
There’s no two ways about it: Baby Driver is cool. Right from the very first scene—in which we’re introduced to Ansel Elgort’s titular getaway driver and the band of miscreants he just so happens to be chauffeuring around town at the time—the film drips with a distinctive style and rhythm.Obie Shrestha
There’s no two ways about it: Baby Driver is cool. Right from the very first scene—in which we’re introduced to Ansel Elgort’s titular getaway driver and the band of miscreants he just so happens to be chauffeuring around town at the time—the film drips with a distinctive style and rhythm. Unlike a lot of action flicks out there that see fit to bludgeon viewers’ eyes and ears with one over-the-top, incoherent set piece after another, Baby Driver has a much better sense of when to pull back and when to pull all the stops. And while it does suffer a number of flaws, and might fall well short of director Edgar Wright’s best work—namely, the delectable Cornetto Trilogy—it still bears his trademark in the form of some razor-sharp editing, punches of self-aware humour and inventive use of music, making for a charming, enjoyable one-time ride, at the very least.
Baby is so close to retirement, he can almost taste it. Having been recruited by crime boss Doc (Kevin Spacey) seemingly straight out of school, he’s spent the best part of his youth putting his skills behind the wheel in the service of a variety of criminal crews—in exchange for a small cut of the profits, and the broader goal of chipping away at a debt he owes Doc. You see, our young hero had lost both his parents in a horrific car accident as a child, and rather than damage him for life so that he’s inclined to run screaming at the sight of any four-wheeled metal contraption like you’d think, the experience appears to have actually left him with a jacked-up appreciation for vehicles, which was instantly recognised by Doc. It’s also, less fortunately, left Baby with a persistent spell of tinnitus that he deals with by being constantly plugged into music, courtesy of the numerous iPods he carries around—refusing to throw off the earphones even in the midst of a heist—a compulsion that alternately bewilders and annoys the thugs he’s forced to associate with, who mistake it for insouciance, or worse, disrespect.
Needless to say, Baby is happy to be finally turning the page on a life of crime: foster father Joseph (CJ Jones), for one, has long been on his case to straighten up, and then there’s the lovely Debora (Lily James), a waitress he’s recently fallen for and whom he would like to keep as ignorant of what he does for work, and the associated dangers, as possible. Of course, if Baby got what Baby wanted, we wouldn’t have a film, and unsurprisingly, things become infinitely more complicated than he could expect: his two worlds are set to collide, and he must do what he can to protect those most important to him.
It’s in the action—particularly the ultra-kinetic, ballet-esque car chases—that Baby Driver shines the most. There’s such great attention to detail lavished on these sequences, stylish certainly but also determinedly economical, no unnecessary frills or detours, and with the focus very much placed on the humans at the centre of it all, so that we’re with them, every breathless step of the way. In fact, in what comes as something of a surprise to my own self, I’d actually argue that the film could’ve done with even more such scenes. Not to imply that the visual flair here is limited strictly to the punch-outs and pursuits, of course; Wright, cinematographer Bill Pope and choreographer Ryan Heffington manage to infuse a controlled, almost cheekily purposeful flow into the proceedings throughout that is hard to resist.
And while Wright’s former projects have also owed a large part of their effectiveness to carefully-calibrated soundtracks, never has music been allowed to play a more central, intrusive role than it does in Baby Driver—which, fittingly, derives its name from a Simon & Garfunkel number. Baby’s need for perpetual tunes means that there is a near wall-to-wall draping of songs in the film, which doesn’t sound appealing, but the very fact that the eclectic selection comes from our lead’s own particular listening preferences at any given time makes them feel more intimate, meaningful, and indeed, an inextricable part of the story. And Wright and his collaborators use this personal playlist in diversely creative ways: sometimes in perfect sync with the visuals, mimicking movement—one notable instance would be the scene with Baby sashaying down the sidewalk to the Harlem Shuffle, practically a music video in itself—other times working to provide ironic counterpoint to events on screen.
As sharp as the film is in terms of how it looks and sounds, however, the story could’ve been improved on. Indeed, one can’t help but wish Baby Driver had a more compelling, less predictable plot, or, if that were too much of an ask, had been a dash funnier at least. Once more, Wright is working to pay tribute to a genre of film that he clearly knows well and loves—the heist movie, in this case—but the effort is lacking his usual light, quirky touch, rather too straightforward. A number of key developments don’t entirely convince, especially in the third act, and the climax is a honking mess altogether.
Part of the blame should go to the cast: the chemistry between Elgort and James, neither of whom are the most natural performers anyway, feels particularly forced; the relationship is too hastily established, and there’s just not enough spark there to have you believe them the soul-mates the film is trying to sell them as. And Baby’s criminal associates, though played by well-known names including Jon Hamm, Jon Bernthal, Jamie Foxx and, of course, Spacey, are ill-developed characters, often given over to caricaturish posturing and little more, and never quite registering as people.
So, while it might not exactly have the rewatch value of some of Wright’s older stuff, Baby Driver—thanks to its tightly-choreographed action and spot-on soundtrack—is no dud either, and definitely worth a go.