Thursday, June 29, 2017

Baby Driver

Tuesday night my plans unexpectedly fell through so I had the chance to see an early screening of Baby Driver.  This movie is an adrenaline rush from beginning to end and I absolutely loved it!  Baby (Ansel Elgort) is a getaway driver for a criminal mastermind named Doc (Kevin Spacey) who has a rotating crew of bank robbers (Jon Bernthal, Jamie Foxx, Jon Hamm, Eiza Gonzalez, Flea, and Lanny Joon).  Baby suffers from tinnitus and listens to music to drown out the ringing in his ears and to energize himself for driving.  All Baby wants to do is to get out of the game so he can go on the road with his girlfriend Debora (Lily James) but Doc wants him to drive for one more heist which eventually goes horribly wrong.  It is a sleek and stylish crime thriller with some of the best car chases I have ever seen and it has an amazing soundtrack, featuring the likes of Queen, Beck, Danger Mouse with Run the Jewels, Golden Earring, the Commodores, Martha and the Vandellas, and Simon & Garfunkel.  The action is exactly choreographed to the music and Baby even rewinds a song when a conversation with the crew runs longer than expected before a heist.  I found the sound design to be absolutely amazing because every sound, from the squealing of tires to the spitting of bullets from a machine gun, corresponds exactly to the beat of the music.  I also loved the scenes of Baby dancing and singing along with the music he is listening to.  I was extremely impressed with Elgort's performance.  Even though Baby is incredibly self-contained, you always know exactly what he is thinking and feeling with just an expression.  I think he is so charismatic, especially in his scenes with Debora.  He and Lily James have great chemistry and I loved their conversation about name songs (since I have a song with my name in it!)  All of the supporting actors are very well suited to their roles.  Jamie Foxx is a hoot and Jon Hamm gives a particularly nuanced performance. There is a fair amount of profanity and violence but I think it is wildly entertaining and I can't remember when I have had so much fun watching a movie.  I highly recommend this intoxicating thrill ride!

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