SUBARU WRX STI

Baby Driver (2017)

The getaway driver is a neglected character in heist movies. Too often, the focus is on violent goons with pick-axe handles or guns. And in Baby Driver, the mastermind crim is played by a pre-Weinstein Kevin Spacey, in what could prove to be his last role. But here the getaway driver is the star. So too is his car.

Director Edgar Wright began with an established stock formula, but, with genius, created something unique. For the getaways and chases, he insisted on uncompromised live-action on the streets of Atlanta, resulting in driving that is both violent and brilliant. The getaway driver is also treated to generous amounts of character development. Ansel Elgort is the youthful Baby Driver and, as with The Graduate, the soundtrack is a Simon and Garfunkel classic. As if to explain Elgort’s intelligent, sensitive personality, the getaway car is an unusual choice for Hollywood: the goons have to squeeze into a Subaru Impreza WRX that provides scarcely enough space for their handheld arsenal, including an AR-15 assault rifle, Glock 26, Ingram MAC-10, Sig-Sauer P229 and a Mossberg Mariner.

For some of the high-speed manoeuvres, including obligatory freeway lane-changing against the flow and two 180º turns in a narrow alleyway, the Subaru’s front-wheel drive was disabled, the better to achieve outrageous effects of handling.

Of course, it is absurd to hobble so competent a car in this way, but great movies are not documentaries, rather lies that tell the truth. Who would want to see a getaway sequence of a car that behaves with great decorum and fine balance?

And here is your answer to the story of all cars in cinema: they take you places never expected. And that, of course, is one definition of art.