Baby Driver- Review
Last night I had the opportunity to see an advanced screening of Baby Driver as I had won tickets. I can't really say that I was getting excited about this film before the screening and in all honesty, I wasn't really aware of what it was going to be like. Thankfully, I can say that I was pleasantly surprised and very glad that I went to see this movie.
This film was directed by Edgar Wright and features the talents of Ansel Elgort, Kevin Spacey, Jon Hamm, Jamie Foxx, Eiza González and Lily James.
The general synopsis of this film follows Baby, a getaway driver who is forced into an unethical career and lifestyle from debt unable to be repaid, in exchange for a better a life.
The performances: So when I first even took a look at this movie's trailer, I wasn't sure how it would pan out. The reason for that is because I knew Ansel Elgort was playing the main role of Baby. I'm used to him being in teen films (like Paper Towns and The Fault In Our Stars). Don't get me wrong, I have nothing against him, I just wasn't sure whether this was going to be an action-packed film or just another love story. Safe to say that I was happy seeing this movie escape that teen romance genre with Ansel as a lead. I can think of a few actors who could have possibly played the role of Baby, but there's always something unique about an actor that makes the character. I believe that it was Ansel's rebel-without-a-cause façade that really captured the role.
Right, you know it's going to be a good movie when Kevin Spacey's involved. I was actually so excited to be seeing him in this film and even my mother agreed. Kevin's got this ability to play villains and condescending, crime-influenced assholes and it's even better when you see him expand his skills and even crack a few sarcastic jokes that you know are guaranteed to make someone laugh. I found his role of Doc to be quite the change from most of the villains I'm used to of late but that doesn't take away anything from the acting of Kevin. He's so brilliant and quite easily my favourite character here.
For the life of me, I couldn't remember his name but I knew I had seen him somewhere. Jon Hamm, who in this movie resembled much of Till Lindermann from Rammstein. That's literally all I could think about when I saw him...it was pretty funny. I had originally remembered Jon from the snippets of Mad Men I caught glimpse of and a Black Mirror Christmas Special. Again, here's another actor with diversity in genre, shown in his role as Buddy. Although, in this movie I really only found him to shine closer to the ending. There's a logical reason for that but you'll have to watch the movie to understand without spoilers.
Jamie Foxx played Bats, a character I was less enthusiastic about. He made some contributions to the plot in terms of verbal meaning that would later become important and of course, every crime organisation needs muscle (which is really all I saw as his worth) but this role just didn't do anything for me. Jamie Foxx is able to adapt and yes, he can act very well but when I saw him, I felt like I had seen it all.
Eiza González as Darling was pretty much the same thing. She was Buddy's wife and that's it. Hooray, you can fire a gun and you can kiss up to your husband while you sweet talk about murder...that was literally all she did. She just felt so irrelevant.
And finally, Lily James as Debora. First question here, do you guys think she looks like Mädchen Amick during her Twin Peaks era? Because that was literally the first thought I had. In most movies, there's a crucial part of a love interest. I think Lily being cast was a wise decision. She's your typical hidden beauty with a wonderful singing voice and the wholesome girl-next-door vibe. I really appreciated her role in this movie and hope that she will undertake more like it.
I couldn't think of any major issues I had with this movie aside from some of the aforementioned acting/ casting.
What a well crafted movie. A good movie not only has a brilliant cast, it also has a brilliant story and some pretty brilliant smaller references. Those extras that you saw in the diner or as authorities? They have a musical background. Some of those extras that we chose to ignore were cast specifically because this movie focusses majorly on music, not just crime and action. Even the main actors cast have some history with music, particularly Jamie Foxx. And let's not stop there, the soundtrack? It's amazing! Although...I would have preferred Faith No More's version of Easy. Just saying. Majorly impressed that they included T.Rex and Blur.
Do yourselves a favour and go to the cinemas to see this. I didn't pay for my tickets, but it's damn worth the admission anyway.
Score: 8.5/10