Baby Driver

Composite Score: 86.72

Starring: Ansel Elgort, Jon Bernthal, Jon Hamm, Eiza González, Lily James, Kevin Spacey, CJ Jones, Flea, Lanny Joon, Sky Ferreira, and Jamie Foxx

Director: Edgar Wright

Writer: Edgar Wright

Genres: Action, Crime, Drama, Music

MPAA Rating: R for violence and language throughout

Box Office: $226.95 million worldwide

My take on Watching This Film:

                Baby Driver is Edgar Wright’s crime action film about a young getaway driver, indebted to a criminal mastermind, whose endeavors to get out of his life of crime driving leave him in more trouble than he may have initially bargained for. The film stars Ansel Elgort as the titular driver, Baby, joined by Kevin Spacey as his boss Doc, Lily James as the waitress he falls for Debora, and Jon Bernthal, Jon Hamm, Eiza González, Jamie Foxx, Lanny Joon, and Flea as the various criminals that Baby drives on the heists for Doc. Between its high-paced action and chase sequences, killer soundtrack, and simple story about underdogs, power, and love, the film is an instant classic of the genre and easily understandable as Wright’s most commercially successful film. It garnered awards nominations from all of the major bodies of the season (Oscars, BAFTAs, Golden Globes, Critics Choice, and SAGS), including a Best Actor Golden Globe nomination for Elgort and Oscar nominations for Editing, Sound Mixing, and Sound Editing. It’s continually celebrated for its excellent action and soundtrack and for the memorable characters that fill out its cast.

                Before I go further, I do feel like I need to address the fact that two of the film’s main actors got Me Tooed not many years after this film came out, and Kevin Spacey remains a highly problematic figure in Hollywood and cinema. Elgort has mostly been able to rehab his public perception, but I can’t speak to his personal morality or the facts or lack thereof in his case(s). What I can say is that Spacey’s appearance in the film might be more jarring than is beneficial in hindsight, and he does detract some from the film on rewatches. However, I don’t personally think that their appearance in this film should preclude you from watching it unless that is a personal hill that you have chosen to take a stand on; this is a fantastic crime film that is incredibly fun and I refuse to let the sins of Kevin Spacey keep me from enjoying films in which he appears. I condone absolutely nothing about Spacey’s personal problematic (and borderline criminal) behaviors, but I do condone this film, Edgar Wright, and most of the rest of the cast.

                Technically and in terms of entertainment value, Baby Driver is one of the best films of the last ten years, complete with multiple strong car chases, a phenomenal, choreographed coffee pickup sequence, and a pleasing soundtrack that exists organically within the world of the film – a choice that continues to influence the world of film to this day. Baby plays music in his headphones to drown out the ringing of his tinnitus, bringing us the sweet tunes that comprise the film’s soundtrack. This representation of a hard of hearing character (alongside Baby’s elderly deaf roommate Joe, played by CJ Jones) sparked a move toward more mainstream representation of the deaf and hard of hearing community that was cemented by the success of A Quiet Place and has resulted in representation in the MCU (Hawkeye and Echo) and in a Best Picture winner (Coda). This makes for some phenomenal sound design in the film that begs to be heard on the best speaker system that you can find. The fact that the sound then plays behind a decently compelling story and some truly inventive and gripping action and chase sequences then improves the whole film, making it an easily rewatchable film that you can show to your friends and family time and time again.

                Baby Driver is a film that runs at full speed on a soundtrack and technical achievements that won’t let audiences look away, influencing not just the viewers but the entire film industry on its way to a place among the Greatest Films of All Time. Some of the story beats might feel a bit bare bones, and there’s no denying that Kevin Spacey makes for a pretty intense jumpscare in his parts of this film, but it’s wildly entertaining, technically well-executed, and refreshingly original, so why not give it a shot if you haven’t yet? If you’d like to watch it in the near future, you can currently stream it on Netflix.