Between the Cornetto trilogy and Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, writer-director Edgar Wright has never had a bad film in his career — and he’s continuing that streak with his latest project, BABY DRIVER. Perhaps he really is unstoppable as a creator.
The film follows Baby (Ansel Elgort), a getaway driver for a crime boss (Kevin Spacey) and his truly impressive driving skills as well as his desire to get out of this life and away from various criminals as played by the likes of Jon Hamm and Jamie Foxx. It also happens to be the first film Wright has ever written alone and frankly, it doesn’t show, as he organically builds characters throughout the plot, giving backstory, motivation, and growth seemingly without any effort.
Lily James also appears in the film as Elgort’s love interest.
Baby Driver feels like a breath of fresh air. It’s well-paced, genuinely funny, and exhilarating. The Fast and the Furious franchise needs to step aside because this film has some of the best chase sequences in recent cinematic history, in cars or otherwise. Not to mention the incredible soundtrack that is both perfectly in-tune with the film and also important to the plot.
Fans will be pleased with this movie — it’s a lot of fun. And it has a lot of heart too. Baby’s relationship with his foster father, played by deaf actor CJ Jones, is especially lovely and it’s also great to see Wright use an actor who’s actually deaf (something he acknowledged in the Q&A after the film).
Will Wright ever make a bad film? It’s impossible to say, but he’s definitely not starting now (and fingers crossed he never does).
Rated: Not yet rated
Running time: 115 minutes
Anya is a writer and editor with a passion for pursuing diverse narratives and perspectives. Her feminist icons are Lauren Bacall and Leslie Knope and she can often be found at a Disney park when she’s not working on her Masters in Mass Communication/Journalism at Cal State University Northridge.
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Anya Crittenton | Associate Editor
1 Comment
Amazing that this reviewer lists her feminist credentials in a review for a movie where female actor’s contribution can be summarised as ‘also appears as love interest’.
The answer to the question is this: Edgar Wright is perfectly capable of making a bad movie and Baby Driver is it.