a BABY DRIVER musing

(This is going to be a shorter review, mainly because I plan to write a 'second thoughts' piece when I see it again this weekend.)

I love Edgar Wright movies, and this one is no different. BABY DRIVER uses a lot of his classic techniques in an American setting to great effect, and as usual letting the music take the wheel. Wright's movies always have his main muse who is in nearly every scene of the film (either Simon Pegg or Michael Cera), surrounded by a well-rounded cast of colorful characters. Ansel Elgort, in a role that finally makes him likable, plays Baby, a young getaway driver who needs to listen to music to drown out the ringing in his ears. Rounding out the wonderful ensemble are nasty gangster characters played by Jamie Foxx, Jon Hamm, Kevin Spacey, Eiza Gonzalez and Jon Bernthal. Baby dreams of driving away with his new love, Debora (Lily James), after he is finished working bank robberies.

The cast does a great job, but in an Edgar Wright film, the director is the one that shines through the most. I've seen the Cornetto trilogy (SHAUN OF THE DEAD, HOT FUZZ, THE WORLD'S END) at least 70 times each, and I discover something new every time I see it again. Seeing BABY DRIVER for the first time assures me that this trend will continue. A choreographer is one of the first credited in a wonderful one take opening credits scene, so you know it's going to be a crazy ride. Each sequence is so beautifully crafted and elegantly executed, and no frame is wasted in telling its own story.

Wright is one of the most precise filmmakers working today, and this movie proves it. I was so thrilled to see pretty much every seat in the theater filled (on a Wednesday, no less), and ecstatic that people are supporting this movie and filmmaker. This didn't only meet my lofty expectations, but exceeded them. It drags a little in the middle, as most of his films do, but, as usual, it's in service to set up and pay off a brilliant final act. BABY DRIVER is more surface level than his Cornetto trilogy and SCOTT PILGRIM, but we'll see how that really is the more I see it). It's a damn good time, and refreshing to see a smart action movie like this.

RATING: BEST OF THE BEST

(Refer to my rating system HERE!)