Boy racer hits the right notes
BABY Driver is a strikingly adventurous and bold action film. Baby, who’s played by an unassuming and deceptively fierce Ansel Elgort, is a daredevil behind the steering wheel who tactfully juggles his dull personal life with his whirlwind role as a getaway driver.
Doc, played by Kevin Spacey, is the mastermind behind a series of heists that have gripped Atlanta, Georgia. The masterfully efficient Baby is the only constant in his heists which employ new members each time.
Marred with tinnitus after a tragic car accident that claimed his parents’ lives as a young boy, Baby is constantly listening to music to block out the “hum in his drum”.
On a daily basis, he walks around wearing dark tinted shades, with earphones on playing music from different coloured iPods which he switches to match his mood.
He comes across as socially awkward, maybe autistic and his bizarre habits make him a deeply fascinating character.
You wouldn’t expect Baby to be a badass bandit and, in truth, he isn’t really. He just happens to be badass driver.
Despite the constant music, Baby Driver escapes being labelled a musical because at one point or another the action becomes so incessant, so captivating that it drowns out all the music.
Debora, played by Lily James, is a beautiful waitress whom Baby is drawn to early on. She gives his otherwise aimless life a bit of purpose and, after a few encounters with her, he fantasises about escaping his dangerous lifestyle with her.
Though predictable, the love story has a certain romance to it. It doesn’t feel forced.
Indebted to Doc after stealing his car as a youth, Baby must now serve dutifully to “buy his way out”. But just when it seems he’s finally paid off his debt, Doc ropes him back in.
After a messy heist involving his latest partners in crime (Bats, played by Jamie Foxx, Darling, played by Eiza González and Buddy, played by Jon Hamm) Baby plans to make a run for it and drive off into the sunset with Debora. But that plan is foiled when Bats and Buddy catch him sneaking off.
Baby Driver unfolds into a crazy over-the-top cat and mouse chase. In the ensuing chaos, the car chases unfold at a breakneck speed and the action intensifies tenfold as Baby gives his all to make a run for it.