Baby Driver

Starring: Ansel Elgort, Jon Bernthal, Jon Hamm, Kevin Spacey, Eliza Gonzalez, Micah Howard, Jamie Foxx, Lily James, Morgan Brown
Directed by: Edgar Wright
Rating: R
Genre: Action
2017

Times Seen:
Tim: 1

Summary: A talented getaway driver (Ansel Elgort) finds himself unable to break free from his criminal colleagues, as the heists they plan become increasingly dangerous.

Review:

Tim: I was really excited to see Edgar Wright's Baby Driver. I'd heard great things about the film. It started off exceeding my already high hopes- the beginning of the film is stylish, cool, and entertaining. Watching the early scenes, I was struck by how enjoyable the movie was, how much I liked it. And then, as the film progresses, it stalls out. The coolness starts to leak out. Scenes drag on too long. Ultimately, it starts to feel redundant. By the end of the movie, I still liked Baby Driver- it was a solidly made, unique, entertaining movie. Unfortunately, any thoughts about this being a great film were left in the dust. This is a good movie, but it runs out of gas far too early.

The cast is strong, but they aren't all used effectively. Ansel Elgort is strong as Baby. He gives a really good performance and quietly has become a young actor you need to keep an eye on. He doesn't say a whole lot, but his performance is of high quality. Kevin Spacey is really good in a supporting role. He gets enough to do to showcase his talent and he was fun on screen. Lily James was decent. She's still so young, I'm not convinced she is going to be a great actress. She has some talent, though. While she wasn't one of the better parts of this film, her performance was serviceable. I loved seeing Jon Bernthal, but I just wish he had more to do. He was one of the stronger cast members, so it's a shame he wasn't used more. Jamie Foxx was a bit hit-or-miss. He had really strong moments, but he also had scenes that felt too forced. I didn't always believe his performance. Jon Hamm starts out strong, but gets progressively more annoying as the film goes on. By the end of the movie, it felt like he had way too much screen time. The cast of Baby Driver is strong, but Edgar Wright doesn't leverage them fully. This is a case where the sum of the cast is less than its parts.

In the strongest aspects of this film, there's this perfect synergy between incredible car chases, super cool music, and strong performances from the cast. In those moments, I saw the greatness that this movie could achieve. Those scenes are just so fun. They're exciting and entertaining. The problem is that after the first few cool scenes, we get these long moments of (legitimately needed) character development that simply aren't interesting enough. They don't provide enough forward momentum. We might learn about the characters, but we lose any sense of momentum. It feels like the wheels of this film are spinning and for a long stretch of the middle, like we haven't gotten very far. The movie does pull it together for a fairly strong climax (which I didn't love, but I see the effectiveness of it). However, the soggy middle really hurts this movie. It blunts the effectiveness of the beginning and end. The middle feels too slow, too boring, and there's not enough payoff. Edgar Wright chooses some truly effective songs at various points in the film, but this doesn't save the story from its loss of momentum.

I really wanted to love Baby Driver and for the first third of the movie, I was convinced that I would. Edgar Wright is a talented director, but he struggles to tell complete stories. He has these moments that are so incredible, but he often struggles to maintain that sense of quality and momentum throughout his films. This is a good movie- please make no mistake about that. I'd recommend it to others and wouldn't be opposed to seeing it again. However, there were so many glimpses that showed this movie could have been so much better than "good". That's the disappointment I have with this otherwise solid, refreshingly different film.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating: 7



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