BABY DRIVER
(directed by Edgar Wright, 2017)
***+ (out of 5)
.
> In a diatribe against the FAST AND FURIOUS franchise, articulate social critic and funnyman Bill Maher eviscerated this film- or rather, the society that would produce this kind of entertainment.
. He had a point.
. What is it with America’s obsession with cars? Why do we venerate people whose skill is simply pressing on a pedal and spinning a wheel? What kind of hero is that? I am not in a position to opine much on the matter, because I have never bothered to see any of those highly successful action films. Why? Because I am not interested much in cars or the people who drive them. Like Bill, I think this county celebrates some pretty strange things. I deduced that the critics must have liked this film so much because it was extremely well edited in a potent rhythmic match of sound and image, as the trailer suggested. And I was absolutely correct in that assumption.
. BABY DRIVER is a heist film- a genre I generally love, and it’s a good one. Current pariah Kevin Spacey plays a nasty character you really don’t want to be involved with, as does Jamie Foxx, but the main character “Baby” (a fresh Ansel Elgort), is unhappily beholden to him. Because the young fellow is unnaturally gifted behind the wheel, Baby is compelled to act as getaway driver for a series of bank robberies, until his debt is paid. Suffering from a permanent tinnitus from a childhood trauma, he does everything to the beat of the mixed tapes playing on his headphones to drown out the din. This turns out to be a great device in the soundtrack, keeping the film rocking and grooving along at a steady, often breathless clip. Naturally there are great car chase sequences. Obviously that’s not what I look for in a movie.
. This film had a lot more going for it than that, though. The main character was certainly unusual, and John Hamm and Jamie Foxx had a blast playing truly dangerously unhinged hombres with zeal and relish. Despite his predilections, Kevin Spacey is always good. (Is his career now, well and truly over? I hope not.) I liked the third act too. That is important in a thriller.
– There were many ways this could have turned south, but by the time the closing credits roll to the tune of Paul Simon’s “Baby Driver”, you realize that no matter how Bill Maher may have felt about it, you had a really good time.
*
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