Movie Breakdown: Baby Driver

Pre-Screening Stance:

Baby Driver looks like it’s going to be a real winner.  Not that this is in any way surprising, as it was written and directed by the one and only Edgar Wright.  That guy is just the best.

Post-Screening Ramble:

I can’t say that Baby Driver is as great as anything in Edgar Wright’s Corentto Trilogy or as quirky as his Scott Pilgrim Vs The World, but it is very entertaining and easily one of the best movies to be released in the first half of 2017.  The plot here is pretty simple – Baby (Ansel Elgort) is a wheelman because he owes a debt to Doc (Kevin Spacey), he meets Debora (Lily James), this proves to be life-changing – and there aren’t any real surprises, but that’s fine because Baby Driver is all about action and music.  The car chases in this thing are a blast.  Actually, just watching Baby walk to get coffee is fun, and that’s because the film doesn’t just have a good soundtrack, there’s a rhythm to the whole thing.  Gun shots, convos, strolls around town, whatever – it’s all set to specific songs and cues within them, and it’s pretty damn impressive.  Now I get why Wright had the entire soundtrack approved before he even started filming.

As I mentioned up above, Baby Driver may not be Wright’s best film – it does have a few things, namely the end, that feel a bit tacked on – but it is a clever, entertaining effort that you’d have to try really hard to not like.  Definitely see it as soon as you can.

One Last Thought:

I sincerely hope that Ansel Elgort is able to follow up Baby Driver with some good projects.  The kid is talented, and he shouldn’t be spending his time in drivel like Allegiant and The Fault In Our Stars.