BEFORE: I was going to point out that I'm back on "heist" films, but the truth is that this topic has already been going on for two days - what is "Robin Hood", if not a heist movie? And it's a bit of a stretch, but the Ponzi scheme in "Billionaire Boys Club" is also something of a heist, just one that went horribly wrong. So there you go, without even trying, I accidentally programmed four heist movies in a row (I'm counting tomorrow's film, too) and I've got another theme week going on. After years of doing this, I've found that not thinking about the plan is often the best way to go - my subconscious mind sort of knows what it's doing by now.
Ansel Elgort carries over from "Billionaire Boys Club", and so does that actor that we're not supposed to talk about any more.
THE PLOT: After being coerced into working for a crime boss, a young getaway driver finds himself taking part in a heist doomed to fail.
AFTER: God, this film is so cool - to say that I've been waiting for this one to float up to the top of the list with great anticipation would be a vast understatement. I remember when the trailer for this first came out, and I think it was just Baby in the car, waiting for the others, and some bits from the first chase scene. It was back in 2017 and I think they were still casting the "Solo" Star Wars spin-off movie, and after I saw Ansel Elgort driving really cool, and acting all aloof, and wearing what looked like a vest (though it was really just a jacket with lightly colored sleeves), I thought, "Well, DAMN, there's young Han Solo, if they've got any sense." It turns out Elgort was one of the eight actors in the running to play young Solo, but they went another way with it, and now that I've seen the full movie of "Baby Driver", I think maybe it was for the best. He's too tall, for one thing - they probably needed more of a height contrast between him and Chewbacca. Plus I'm not seeing as much Harrison Ford in his face after looking at it for a bit longer.
Anyway, now that I've seen an awful lot of heist movies (including a lot of awful heist movies) it's a little easier to distinguish what makes one rise above the rest. Here it seems like some writer said, "Hey, you know what the best part of a heist movie is? The getaway scenes. What if we did a movie that was ALL getaway scenes?" This is the same mentality that brings us special "Chopped" episodes where every round is a dessert round, or breakfast cereals like "Oops! All Berries Cap'n Crunch" or some twisted version of Lucky Charms that's all marshmallows and no actual cereal pieces (wait, is that a real thing or did I dream it?). But damn it, it WORKS here, when you cut away from the bank robbery and focus on the guy in the getaway car (because really, who wants to see the shooting and the stuffing the money into bags, we've seen all that before) as he grooves out to music, then the robbers get back in the car, and we're off to the races. It's completely crazy-ass bonkers, it shouldn't work, I don't know who signed off on this, but somehow it's very entertaining.
"Baby" (not his real name, or is it?) is a character that's a bit hard to grasp at first - is he deaf? Is he learning-impaired (they use the "R" word here, but they really shouldn't) or autistic or somewhere on the spectrum? Was he scarred as a child by some trauma? Or is he just too cool to talk, keeping his words and thoughts on the inside. Or, is he just really really into his music, and driving like a skilled maniac? How about some of the above, or maybe ALL of the above?
We learn about this criminal mastermind who puts the heists together, and Baby's in deep with him, but trying to work his way out of this world. But the mastermind, Doc, considers Baby to be his lucky charm, and wouldn't dream of planning a heist without using the best getaway driver that he knows. It makes sense, but the rest of the team is always changing, supposedly Doc never uses the same team of robbers twice, which makes sense on one level, but is also completely bananas on another, if you think about it. Because while there's an advantage to using different players each time - nobody knows anyone's real name so they can't inform on each other, team members are more expendable and easily replaced if caught, friend bonds aren't formed so the team members don't get attached to each other, plus after it's done, everyone gets their cut and moves on, and the next team has a different look and a different m.o. - there's also a distinct disadvantage, namely that there could be a lack of teamwork, disputes between different people who don't work well together, and so on.
And I think that's what we see here in "Baby Driver" - the second heist in the film goes a little wonky, and then I don't think it's much of a spoiler to say that the third one really goes south. It's the personalities that don't gel, because if you put too many alphas on a project together, everyone's going to be jockeying for control. Geez, anyone who's worked in an office or watched an episode of "Survivor", "MasterChef", "Top Chef" or "Hell's Kitchen" can tell you that. Besides, and here comes my first NITPICK POINT, the first heist has three of the same team members as the third one - that's almost the exact same team, and so any advantage gained by constantly switching things up seems nearly negated by doing this. Plus, two of the team members are married (at least they say they are) so this also seems to violate the rule about putting strangers together on the team - what if it's a choice between completing the heist and saving one's spouse, why introduce that possibility for a conflict of interest into the mix?
Ah, but there's a reason for everything here, really. There's foreshadowing when someone points out that the getaway driver never has to hurt anyone or get his hands dirty, but this might not always be the case. And when Baby falls for a waitress at the diner, and leaves the life of crime only to get pulled back in, what's he going to do when his two worlds collide? I thought it was pretty clever how Baby's quirks and hobbies could also be seen by his comrades as a threat, as proof of disloyalty - and then we have to watch as the life he's tried to build for himself comes crashing down.
But that's probably not why you found this movie, is it? You may have come for the great driving moves and stunts, and there are a ton of them. So far in my project I've avoided all movies that claim to be either fast and/or furious, but that's a franchise that I may have to tackle eventually. I came here for the heist stuff, but if you arrived for the driving stuff, that's OK too. I can appreciate the car chases and stunts, even if I haven't driven a vehicle in close to a decade - I live in one of the few cities where not driving doesn't affect my daily life much, but I do rely on my wife's driving when we go on road trips. But I can appreciate boxing movies, too, even though I'm not good with fighting skills.
I forgot that "Baby Driver" is a song by Simon and Garfunkel, which they make you wait until the end credits to hear. But there's plenty of other music in the film, whether you like classic Motown (Sam & Dave, Martha & the Vandellas, Barry White) or classic rock (Queen, T.Rex, Focus), or classic jazz (Dave Brubeck, "Tequila"). It's practically wall-to-wall music, and there's nothing really wrong with that. Some of the cuts are so standard in movies that they're practically cornball, but there's also plenty I haven't heard before.
This could easily be the winner of the week for me, and I'm glad to hear that they're already working on a sequel. I can see how some people may take issue with the final act, but if you think about the different ways they could have ended this story, you may realize there weren't that many options. Do you prefer to see your heist films end well for the criminals, or do like to see justice get served? As always, your mileage may vary, but either way you're in for quite a ride.
Also starring Kevin Spacey (carrying over from "Billionaire Boys Club"), Lily James (last seen in "Darkest Hour"), Jon Bernthal (last seen in "The Accountant"), Jon Hamm (last seen in "Tag"), Jamie Foxx (last seen in "Robin Hood"), Eiza Gonzalez (last seen in "Welcome to Marwen"), CJ Jones, Flea (last seen in "Boy Erased"), Lanny Joon, Sky Ferreira, Lance Palmer, Big Boi (last seen in "Idlewild"), Killer Mike, Paul Williams (last seen in "Clive Davis: The Soundtrack of Our Lives"), Jon Spencer, Hudson Meek, Brogan Hall, Hal Whiteside, R. Marcos Taylor, with archive footage of Meryl Streep (last seen in "Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again"), John Krasinski (last seen in "A Quiet Place"), Brad Pitt (last seen in "Deadpool 2"), Noel Fielding (last seen in "The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part"), Michael Smiley and the voice of Billy Crystal (last seen in "Robin Williams: Come Inside My Mind").
RATING: 7 out of 10 money orders
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