June 21, 2017 1 min to read

Baby Driver

Despite it's stylistic merit, Baby Driver is more like a really long, cool music video than a great movie.

by Zach Saul

As the final action scene ended, I left the theatre wondering what Baby Driver was trying to be. Is Baby Driver just a really long, really cool music video? Is Baby Driver Edgar Wright’s attempt to make a lighter version of Drive (Nicolas Winding Refn)? For me, this movie had some interesting visual and musical ideas (the soundtrack is definitely the most enjoyable part of this film) but lacked the clarity to thread the needle through its jumbled parts. Baby Driver invites you to dance across the streets with Baby (Ansel Elgort) and marvel at the things he can do with a stick shift. He is the gentle criminal with a troubled past who keeps getting pulled deeper and deeper into a world he doesn’t belong in. As I watched, the first 45 minutes were a lot of fun - we got a little bit of Baby’s backstory, but at the end of the two hours, I just didn’t find myself rooting for Baby’s character as much as I was questioning his decisions.

The Good: This movie is definitely fun. Fans of the “cat and mouse” crime thrillers will definitely find a lot to like. The style is unique and the way Edgar Wright plays with the soundtrack and syncs the moods and rhythms to the shots on screen is enjoyable to watch. even the staunchest critics of this movie must admit, the dude is definitely good at making movies. Kevin Spacey (Doc) plays an enjoyable villan and is able to tiptoe the line between being edgy, funny and serious pretty effectively.

The Bad: The movie doesn’t capitalize on it’s early momentum and as it progresses can’t decide what tone it wants to take. As the movie progressed, the action scenes felt more like outtakes from tropic thunder than a crime thriller and it dragged through the middle. The characters felt underdeveloped (albeit some on purpose) leaving the the audience detached from both Baby, and Deborah’s (Lily James’) plight.