Once upon a pair of wheels ...
Speaks in Movie Lines
“Your name’s Baby? B-A-B-Y Baby?” – A line spoken by Debora, an Atlanta waitress played by the English actress Lily James (“Cinderella”) doing the cutest little Southern accent.
Whoa Baby! Now, here it is. A really great summer movie that is a true original.
I started out with a smile on my face, kept it, wishing I could dance along with the music in that crowded theater, experienced moments of pure suspense, even fear, and ended up with chill bumps on my arms and a tear in my eye.
This is what director Edgar Wright seems to do. He does a little bit of everything.
After my screening, I tried to categorize his latest film, “Baby Driver,” describing it to my wife, the genres collided into a nice straight organized line that veered into a turn it’s hard to believe possible.
“Why, I don’t know, it’s like an action-comedy-romance-drama-thriller.
More of a thriller than I woulda thought and it’s kind of a musical, the soundtrack rocks, and there’s a really funny ‘Monsters Inc.’ joke you would’ve loved” (that’s her favorite Pixar...).
Such are the reasons this is my favorite movie of the year so far. It’s the kind of movie general audiences and move snob elitists can agree on.
It’s the best kind of movie.
Ansel Elgort stars as Baby, a young getaway driver for a criminal mastermind who goes by Doc (Kevin Spacey), the kind of dude who always has a next move, endless jobs, mostly banks and armored cars.
His jobs are completed by always-rotating crews of professional bad hombres. Some of them, like Jon Bernthal’s Griff and Jamie Foxx’s Bats, don’t dig on Baby. Why’s he always got earbuds in and sunglasses on? Why’s he so quiet? “Are you a mute?” Bats asks. “No.” Baby replies.
Also, on the roster is Jon Hamm (“Mad Men”) as the likable but edgy Buddy always with his partner-in-crime and girlfriend Darling (Eliza González).
Baby isn’t much of a criminal himself. Too sweet. Too good. But he’s good at his job, and he’s indebted to Doc for a certain amount owed from a mistake in his past.
Orphaned as a child, he’s the kind who dances to the eclectic playlist of my dreams, mostly jazzy funk and soul with a touch of 70s glam rock and a Simon and Garfunkel on top, makes mash-ups of beats and voice recordings he takes with his tape recorder that he keeps next to his several iPods, where underneath in his jacket pocket is that flip phone, the one that calls him to the next job.
He takes care of his caretaker, a deaf man named Joseph (C.J. Jones), dancing around the apartment, smitten with Debora (Lily James), a waitress at his favorite diner, who has given him a new purpose, and some new favorite songs.
Ansel Elgort carries the weight of this film and he does it, the talking, the dancing, the driving, all of it with the grace of a getaway-driving Gene Kelly.
He exhibits fear with the diabolical Foxx character, understanding with the slimy but soulful Hamm character, strength with the maniacal Spacey character, pure vulnerability, adoration with the lovely Lily James character, care for all, and confidence behind the wheel.
Elgort, only seen by me in the okay teen romance The Fault in Our Stars and the truly horrible Divergent series, should make a name for himself here. I’m a fan.
But the true star of this show is the English writer/director Edgar Wright, whose “Shaun of the Dead” and “Hot Fuzz” remain two of the best action comedies I’ve seen, both built of equal parts heart and style. And that’s what makes him a special filmmaker.
Watching his movies, and “Baby Driver” is no better evidence of this, is to go through a huge range of emotions. He uses pop songs to absolute perfection, as stated, and, in that, “Baby Driver” is his masterpiece thus far.
When Baby’s not dancing down the street on a perfectly choreographed coffee run, the dancing is mostly done with cars. Real, practical effects here.
Elaborate camera rigs and other such filmic sorcery.
Wright straight brings his game and makes everything move at a rhythm by design, laughing in the face of the CGI spectacles we now live and breathe. (Thanks for the fresh air, man.)
And I haven’t even mentioned his writing. How the dialogue plays with the beats in the action and the rhythms of the music, sometimes underneath, sometimes overt. How it calls back upon itself, referencing song lyrics and movie lines all the while.
I’ve laid on the praise, but, so has everyone else. It’s 98% percent on Rotten Tomatoes.
And it’s working because it is so much fun and exists in a world where a truly kind movie character can use that very goodness, and love, to rise above the violence.
Yes. That’s it. That’s why this is a great movie.
It’s because we know Baby is too good for such a world, and we feel his sweetness, even in the darkest segments of the film, every single amped-up, violent moment.
It’s so many things I can’t wait to watch it again, knowing that I’ve missed something. And that, for me, is the sign of a great movie.
Baby Driver
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Screened at Regal Riviera 8 in Downtown Knoxville on June 27th, 2017.
Now playing there and at most area theaters.
For more, please visit my website www.speaksinmovielines.com, or follow me on Twitter @speaksmovie.