Baby Driver

Okay, I'm gonna get it out of the way, this is a weird movie to watch in a post-Kevin Spacey is a creep world. Kevin Spacey's whole character is that he is black mailing a young man by the name of Baby and anywhere else, this wouldn't have been an issue and Spacey's character would have been fine if not kind of interesting. As it stands, it's weird. Okay, I got that out of the way, let's talk about Baby Driver as a whole.

Baby Driver follows the story of a young driver by the name of Baby (played by Ansel Elgort). As I mentioned, he's under obligation by a criminal mastermind (played by Kevin Spacey, pre-Me Too) who is running a series of bank heists with a different crew every time with the exception of Baby.

Baby also has tinnitus and so he uses music to drown out the ringing in his ear.

The movie uses a pretty cool playlist of songs and Edgar Wright's unique film work to create a really uniquely shot and well written crime story with a colorful and star studded cast as the criminals Baby runs across. Since Spacey's character switches out his crew every job, the members include actors like Jon Hamm, Jon Berenthall, Eiza Gonzalez, and Jamie Foxx.

As Baby tries to maneuver his way out of the criminal lifestyle, he meets a nice waitress by the name of Debora (played by Lily James) and he suddenly has an incredible motivation to leave that life behind him, a motivation that Kevin Spacey's character is not too happy about.

Good things first. The cast is fantastic. It's pretty easy to see Jon Berenthall in a role like this and as usual, he's criminally underutilized. But then you see Jon Hamm and Jamie Foxx in these roles and they seem to be having a blast being these incredible psychopaths.

I think another fun element is each criminal's relationship with Baby. Jon Hamm and his wife played by Eiza Gonzalez kind of like Baby because they don't see him as a threat. Whereas Jamie Foxx and Jon Berenthall are incredibly skeptical of him. These relationships take great turns and they're just fun to watch the alliances shift as Baby tries to figure out who he can trust or not.

You might think that my criticism of Spacey's character is because I think he's a creep, and he is. But I actually think his character is the least developed because they're not really sure who he is. For a lot of the film, he's an authoritative villain who Baby needs to escape, then suddenly at the end, Baby is asking him for his help and that was an odd turn. It doesn't totally ruin the movie, especially considering how the movie ends in total, but it was something that seemed off looking at Spacey's character as a whole.

As far as the male and female lead, I liked Elgort and James's performance. I think Elgort is a little bit of an odd duck and he looks a little bit out of place by looking so young, but it worked for the most part in this film. I am continuously a fan of Lily James.

Is it the couple sent from heaven? No. But I'm not too picky when it comes to romantic leads. They're totally serviceable and similarly to the supporting cast (which is the real draw in my opinion) they seem like they're having a fun time with the role as well.

And a lot of that is due to the directing of Edgar Wright.

Wright is able to combine a fantastic soundtrack in a time where fantastic soundtracks are overused. He not only picks songs that are not gimicky, but he uses those songs in his directing, his choreography, and the action.

There are times where gunshots or engine revs pair up with the music and it just makes the movie up tempo and a lot of fun. I will say I think the movie takes a little bit to get going as there is a lot of set up, but part of that is how well done the first action car chase it and how it gets your blood pumping from the beginning.

The car stunts are done so well and the first scene is a great car chase. I think it's done so well that everything after that slows down a lot in comparison. It eventually picks up but I remember the first act being a little slow.

But it's made up for in future car chases and filmography. That would be the biggest glaring issue. I mean that and the small issue that Baby is really not that great of a criminal, but that doesn't pull away from the story.

Overall, it's a fun little crime thriller with a great soundtrack, awesome stunts, and a really fun cast (minus creepy Kevin Spacey). I think if you're looking for an entertaining little romp that I almost hope they don't just try to cash in on a sequel, Baby Driver is going to be a good time for you.

But those are my thoughts on Baby Driver. Have you seen it? What'd you think? Is Kevin Spacey being a creep as distracting for you? Comment and Discuss below! You can also send me your thoughts on Twitter @MovieSymposium as well as send me your requests for films I should review in the future. If you follow me on Twitter, you can get updates on future movie news and reviews coming out of this blog.

Thanks for reading!