Review of Baby Driver (2017) by Kevin P — 09 Oct 2017

Strengths: I cannot stress enough how many things in this movie work. It starts with Edgar Wright, who clearly had every little detail about this film planned to perfection. Each camera shot means something and every song that plays is significant. Baby Driver is masterfully edited. The fact that each gunshot or action moment is choreographed to match the music playing is unbelievable. Giving the protagonist a condition like tinnitus made it so having so much music in the movie makes sense. In fact, the music becomes something of its own character. It's that important. Speaking of characters, they're all great, well written, fleshed out, and well acted. Ansel Elgort (Baby) is spectacular as the lead. He's a quiet force, delivering a ton with a few words and facial expressions in ways that few actors can. Lily James (Debora) was a great love interest. The dialogue when they do speak is very good and the chemistry between she and Ansel was electric. For most of the movie, Jamie Foxx (Bats) plays the main antagonist. He plays the crazy man to the brink without going overboard. Just as his character might start getting tired, he's gone. Jon Hamm (Buddy) takes over as the villain in the end and is incredible. His best performance since Don Draper. He's hell bent on revenge after what happens to Darling (Eiza Gonzalez) and it shows. The final scenes involving him, Baby, and Debora are thrilling and keep you on the edge of your seat. That's all without mentioning the stellar job from Kevin Spacey (Doc), Jon Bernthal (Griff), and Gonzalez herself. There are countless great scenes, from the opening heist to the Mike Myers mask joke and heist to the culmination of it all in an exhilarating final act. I've written a fair amount here and have still barely scratched the surface of everything great about this movie.

Weaknesses: It's hard to find one. If I had to pick, I'd say Baby and Debora fall in love a bit quickly. They only hang out a few times, but quickly talk about love and go to extreme lengths for one another. It can happen, it just seems a bit far-fetched. Still, that's a minor gripe.

Overall: It's not just the best film of 2017, it's the best movie I've seen in years. An incredible soundtrack, fantastic direction, strong acting, thrilling heists, and heart pounding action. Not to mention, it's one of the coolest movies ever made. I love everything about Baby Driver.