FILM REVIEW: BABY DRIVER (15)

Perhaps the most original film of the summer comes from the mind of acclaimed filmmaker Edgar Wright – with this super-cool music-infused crime-thriller that really hits the mark.

The director of the ‘Three Flavours Cornetto’ trilogy – which included Shaun of the Dead – provides only his second Stateside-based offering with this highly-esteemed caper headlined by The Fault in Our Stars’ up-and-comer Ansel Elgort.

Elgort stars as highly-skilled getaway driver, simply known as Baby, who lets his music – which includes an eclectic mix from The Button Down Brass’ Tequila to Queen’s Brighton Rock – do the talking for him.

But after he pays a debt to veteran criminal mastermind Doc (Oscar-winner Kevin Spacey), the mysterious kingpin of switchable teams of bank robbers – which includes the likes of psycho Bats (Oscar-winner Jamie Foxx), Buddy (Mad Men’s Jon Hamm), Darling (Eiza Gonzalez from TV series From Dusk Til Dawn) and Griff (Jon Bernthal from Netflix’s forthcoming Marvel series The Punisher) – and falls in love with waitress Debora (Cinderella’s Lily James) thinking he’d got out of the ‘game’, the ‘lucky charm’ is coerced back in for further heists due to his knack of getting Doc’s teams out of danger.

Backed into a corner – where one false move could cost you your life – Baby then has to create a plan to break free from the clutches off his life of crime and make his escape, while not endangering the lives of Debora or his deaf foster father Joseph (CJ James).

And what unfolds is a clever, taut, humorous and infectiously masterful slice of entertainment from Wright that definitely raises his profile in Hollywood.

It isn’t quite the five-star film some press outlets are purporting due to its drawn out finale and the intermittent lull here and there, but it doesn’t outstay its welcome and provides a truly satisfying crime yarn that oozes originality from most of its pores – and with a catchy soundtrack to boot.

Wright – who first devised the script for this film as long ago as 1994 – definitely pushes the pedal to the metal, and for the most part his pet-project drives in the fast lane.

Gavin Miller [youtube id=”zTvJJnoWIPk” width=”600″ height=”350″]

Cast: Ansel Elgort, Kevin Spacey, Jamie Foxx, Jon Hamm, Lily James, Eiza Gonzalez, Jon Bernthal, Cj Jones, Lanny Joon & Flea

Running Time: 1 Hr 53 Mins

Director: Edgar Wright

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