Baby Driver Plot Summary:
After a childhood accident affects his hearing and takes his mom (Sky Ferreira), Baby (Ansel Elgort) turns to crime early, proving to be a master driver through his use of music. After owing a debt to a notorious crime boss (Kevin Spacey), Baby tries to get out of this life with his new girlfriend (Lily James), but can’t seem to escape the mistakes of his past.
There are no zombies, robots or obscure video game references to lean on this time. Edgar Wright is armed only with cars, an iPod and people. How does he fare? The first twenty minutes had me nervous. It was perfectly enjoyable, but it was an Edgar Wright film to a T. Frenetic pacing. Overly edited. Cartoon characters. Every frame needed to have something in the corner that was either clever, or quirky. It was busy, like all his films. There came a point though where it all stopped. Edgar Wright let the damn film breath, and we are all better for it. For someone who’s been lukewarm on Edgar Wright his entire career, this, for me, is Edgar Wright’s best film by far.
Before we get to where it all changed, let’s start with that first twenty minutes. It’s Edgar Wright. He immediately plays up the character trait of Baby’s music to the point where I’m already annoyed. After a solid car chase, it’s more of “Look how cool Baby is! He dresses like Han Solo and sings without actually singing! He’s so charming!” That brings us to why a little film from 2014 significantly hurts this one.
The first ten minutes is Guardians of the Galaxy. It’s literally the exact same thing. The character dances to the music the same way Star Lord does. HE EVEN HAS A TAPE LABELED “MOM!” I mean, really? Come on! I’m sure this script was written before Edgar Wright saw Guardians of the Galaxy, but you can’t avoid the comparisons. I’d be flabbergasted if I was the first critic to bring this up.
Once you get past that, it’s typical fast-paced Edgar Wright. Everything from the editing to the way the characters over deliver their lines. Jon Bernthal in particular lays it on thick. Seriously, can we ease up with the over the top foreshadowing? Geez. At this point, I was liking the film fine, but my blood started to boil. I couldn’t sit through another ninety minutes of this 900 mph paced movie. Something had to give. It needed to settle in and have actual scenes. As soon as I said this, it happened. Edgar Wright grew up.
Baby meets Debora, the required love interest, at a quaint diner. Yeah, it’s a cliché setting, but the movie needed it. Edgar Wright finally cuts the schick, and we get to see two characters have an actual conversation. This is where we really get to know Baby without the gimmicks and character ticks. It still has that Edgar Wright charm, but unlike most of his movies, we finally get actual people. Their chemistry is great, and from that moment on, I cared.
Ansel Elgort spearheads the movie beautifully. He only talks when he needs to, and when he doesn’t, he’s equally fascinating and entertaining. He’s extremely likable. You root like hell for Baby. You desperately want to see him get out of this bad situation, so when he’s pulled back in, it kills you. Through most of the movie, Baby is a good-natured, high energy guy. He certainly changes as the stakes get raised, but he almost gets too much of an edge by the end, almost becoming an entirely different character. That’s my only complaint with Baby. Otherwise, he’s a damn good protagonist.
Wright dives deep into his protagonist, which is something he usually falters with. There’s more subtlety here, as he also builds a couple very powerful relationships with Baby, most notably with his foster dad (CJ Jones), which really hits you hard.
As far as the supporting cast goes, some were better than others, but they mostly hit. Kevin Spacey chews up the scenery like Pac-Man on steroids, but he’s really damn good at it. I love what they do with his character at the end. Jamie Foxx plays Bats, and is entertaining as hell. While the name is very on the nose, he’s just a completely unstable character. This is the best Foxx has been in a long time. Lily James is exceptionally charming as Baby’s girl, and plays off Ansel Elgort flawlessly.
That brings us to the weaker links. Eliza Gonzalez plays Darling, one of the main criminals. She has a couple memorable lines, but that’s it. Then there’s Jon Hamm. I’m just never going to love Jon Hamm. I don’t know what it is. Is he bad here? Not at all. He’s a solid B. That’s the problem though. Hamm plays Buddy, a hard-nosed crook who’s tough to get a read on. As I watched Hamm, I couldn’t help but think somebody else could have done this better. The material was absolutely on the page. Tom Hardy would have slayed this role. It’s a shame, because he plays a lot of weight in the last twenty minutes.
Speaking of the last twenty minutes, the movie gets a little too drawn out. The action is tense and well filmed, but it dances around the climax too long. The chase scenes in general were highly effective. They didn’t blow me out of the theater, but they were very well done.
Even though Edgar Wright took some big steps, at times, he was still guilty of being “too Edgar Wright.” As great as Kevin Spacey was, some of his dialogue reached Joss Whedon levels of overly clever. He had a couple digs towards the end that especially pissed me off because this is where the movie really ramps up, and his lines take you right out of that intensity. Without spoiling too much, they also use an eight-year-old kid who’s only there to get cheap cute kid laughs. This movie was waaaaay better than that. That’s a scene Kevin Feige is writing down right now for Ant-Man 2. I guarantee it.
Despite some of the typical problems that come with an Edgar Wright film, it’s the first time I didn’t feel like I was watching a cartoon. This movie had stakes. It had consequences. It didn’t lead to some big elaborate conspiracy. It was a simple story about a good dude who wanted out of his life of crime. The style was unique, but it never distracted from the story.
That’s all I ever wanted, Edgar.
Rating: 8 out of 10 (Great)
