Baby Driver is musically inspired, has a number of sketchy characters, and is a lot of fun with an uncommon level of style. Written and directed by Edgar Wright, Baby Driver is about a getaway driver with a cute name, flawless driving skills, and a good heart. Populating his world are a variety of not so nice criminals and he finds himself wrapped up in a world where nice, law abiding citizens do not belong. Distinctive to this film is the abundance of music inspiring the action and the pacing, so much so that gunshots and the characters movements seem to accent the beats of the tunes. Brief uses of singing, recording, and music making all contribute to an audio heavy film, which is also noteworthy for the use of sign language especially in the scenes with actor CJ Jones who is deaf, (love the large size font words that appear while they sign, so much easier to read). Ansel Elgort brought an innocent charm to his version of Ryan Gosling in Drive (2011), Kevin Spacey played a version of his previous role in Horrible Bosses (2011), and Jamie Foxx reinvented his Dean “MF” Jones from Horrible Bosses to perfection. There are laughs, some can be blink and you miss them thanks to the UK director’s sense of humor. Car driving scenes, especially drifting is captured brilliantly and was all completed without the use of green screens or computer generated imagery. What people say and do make sense for their characters, again complementing the big picture that Wright had intended. Shot mostly in Atlanta, Georgia, in addition to New Orleans, Louisiana, Edgar Wright’s first American production. If you stay during the credits you will hear the song “Baby Driver” by Simon & Garfunkel, and other artists in the soundtrack include Queen, The Beach Boys, Carla Thomas, Beck, Bob & Earl, and Run the Jewels. Bonus points if you catch the Back to the Future trilogy references. See this movie if you like great car chases, musically accented action, and stylized performances by a talented cast.

2017, 14A, 1h 52m
Distributor – TriStar
Budget – $34 million

Cast & Crew
Writer and director Edgar Wright has a unique style and taste making his films. He co-wrote and directed Shaun of the Dead (2004 starring co-writer Simon Pegg), and they had similar duties on Hot Fuzz (2007 also starring Nick Frost). Edgar continued his streak with Scott Pilgrim vs. the World (2010 starring Michael Cera) and made The World’s End (2013 again teaming with Simon Pegg) and will next be making an animated film Shadows. For a quite similar use of this film’s premise, check out the music video he directed for the band Mint Royale “Blue Song,” he had actually started writing this film in 1994. Ansel Elgort was previously in the Divergent trilogy (2014-2016) and The Fault in Our Stars (2014), all 4 with Shailene Woodley, and will next be seen in November Criminals (crime drama with Chloë Grace Moretz) and Billionaire Boys Club (drama, working again with Kevin Spacey). Kevin Spacey was last in Elvis & Nixon (2016 with Michael Shannon), Nine Lives (2016 with Jennifer Garner), Rebel in the Rye (2017 with Zoey Deutch), and will continue to star in House of Cards (5 seasons 2013-2017). Jon Hamm was previously in Marjorie Prime (2017 with Geena Davis), Keeping Up with the Joneses (2016 with Zach Galifianakis), Aardvark (2017 with Zachary Quinto), and will next be seen in Nostalgia (drama with Nick Offerman) and High Wire Act (action thriller with Rosamund Pike). Eiza González was previously in From Dusk Till Dawn: The Series (3 seasons, 2014-2016), Almost Thirty (2014 with Manuel Balbi), and will next appear in the first season of God’s Equation and Alita: Battle Angel (2018 action with Jennifer Connelly). Lily James was recently in The Exception (2016 with Christopher Plummer), Pride and Prejudice and Zombies (2016 with Sam Riley), Cinderella (2015 with Cate Blanchett), and will next appear in Darkest Hour (drama with Gary Oldman), and Little Woods (drama with Tessa Thompson). Jamie Foxx was recently in Sleepless (2017 with Michelle Monaghan), Horrible Bosses 2 (2014 with Kevin Spacey) and will next be seen in All-Star Weekend (comedy with Eva Longoria) and Robin Hood (adventure with Taron Egerton). The cinematographer was Bill Pope who recently did The Jungle Book (2016 directed by Jon Favreau), The World’s End and Scott Pilgrim vs. the World (both with Edgar Wright), and The Matrix trilogy (directed by the Wachowskis 1999-2003).

Links
IMDB – 8.3
Box Office Mojo
Wikipedia