Baby Driver movie review & film summary (2017)
Yes, his name is “B-A-B-Y, Baby” (Ansel Elgort). At least, that’s the name he gives people when asked, although he’s more often ignored. He’s the nearly silent getaway driver for a robbery syndicate managed by Doc (Kevin Spacey), who organizes the crime, hires three criminals, and then puts them in Baby’s car. You see, Baby can drive. But he needs music to do it. After a car accident as a kid left him with tinnitus, he spends the vast majority of his waking hours with ear buds in his ears to drown out the ringing. And the world around him moves to the music on one of his many iPods—he has various ones for different moods. Sometimes the world seems to respond to his choice, sometimes his choice seems to influence the world around him—either way, music is as essential to the success of “Baby Driver” as it was to “La La Land,” maybe more.
Take the riveting first scene. Three criminals—Buddy (Jon Hamm), Darling (Eiza Gonzalez), and Griff (Jon Bernthal)—leap from a car outside of a bank just as Baby cues up “Bellbottoms” by The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion in his 'buds. Everything from this point on moves in rhythm with the music from the slamming of the car doors after the bank robbers return to the squealing tires of one of the best car chase scenes in years. We’ve seen countless action scenes scored to pop or rock songs, but how many have you seen in which the action works in unison with the music? And Wright takes this brilliant concept a step further, making even everyday normal activity feel like it’s part of Baby’s soundtrack. The sound of someone typing a text message on a phone or placing stacks of money on a table will work with the beat of a song, creating a film that has a rhythm, flow and structure from first frame to last that works in conjunction with its soundtrack. It’s fluid and jaw-dropping—the kind of thing you want to see immediately again after it’s over to catch all the things you missed.
The last paragraph probably makes “Baby Driver” sound like a music video, and has likely pushed out potential viewers looking for more substance than style. Trust me when I say that Wright doesn’t skimp on the former. There’s enough story and action here to satisfy without the music that drives the filmmaking. Much of the joy of this film is watching it unfold so I’ll be brief with plot. Baby had a brief dalliance with crime, and he made the mistake of robbing from Doc, who now forces him to drive as penance. He’s almost done. He has one more job for Doc and then he’ll be back to his normal life. Of course, we all know how that typically turns out in crime movies. And when Baby meets a lovely waitress named Debora (Lily James), he finds a reason to go straight. That’s all you need to know.
