Baby Driver

"Baby Driver" is a high octane pop up restaurant for your eyes and ears that makes the "Fast and Furious" franchise look like an episode of "Thomas and Friends", if it was filmed in "Smell-O-Vision" your nose would get an invite as well. It is the latest film from acclaimed fanboy director Edgar Wright (Scott Pilgrim vs. The World, Shaun of the Dead) and can simply be described as a pulpnoiractionromancemusicalcomedycarhipsterheistsploitation (relax grammar nerds) that can reserve its spot as easily one of the best genre films of the decade.

Baby (that's B A B Y), played by Ansel Elgort (The Fault in Our Stars) plays the titular hero who due to a car accident has a constant humming in his ear that he remedies by constantly having music playing whether it be from his tape deck or from one of his numerous iPods. It is his tunes that give us the soundtrack to the movie, music as it is in life is the blood that keeps this movie going. An eclectic soundtrack that is Soul and R n' B is base also includes cuts from Dave Brubeck and T. Rex. When you're watching "Baby Driver" notice that during key scenes the music is incorporated as sound effect, a shoot-out featuring "Tequila" is an easy example to hear. Wright is a fan of tracking shots and another highlight of his skills as a director and the use of music is a walk by Baby through downtown Atlanta with "Harlem Shuffle" accompanying him in his ears and on the graffiti and store signs he passes by on his strut. Another way to put all of this is that if you don't like the soundtrack you probably wont like the movie, it' s that essential to the movie.

Elgort plays the "aw shucks" type serviceably well but I almost think someone like Michael B. Jordan would have been better suited for the role. Baby is a wheel man for a big time Atlanta mob boss played by the ridiculously consistent Kevin Spacey. He drives various bank robbers to and from their destination and chaos and high speed chases usually ensue and during a break from all the action he meets a waitress named Debora played by Lily James (Cinderella). They soon find out they both have the same dream to escape their lives in a car they can't afford with a plan they don't have, with music playing all along the way. James is naturally British and struggles with the southern belle accent but she's not asked to much else other than to look pretty and she does that immensely well, Eiza Gonzalez has the meatier female role with the same amount of eye candy.

The rest of the cast includes Jon Bernthal (The Walking Dead), Jon Hamm in his best non Don Draper role to date, Jamie Foxx in a villainous role that will hopefully make most forget his earlier bad guy role in the Amazing Spider Man 2 and cameos from of the world of music including Flea from the Red Hot Chili Peppers and 70's ballad master songwriter Paul Williams. As with any film miscasting can throw off even the most skillful of directors vision, This cast understands the goal looking to be achieved and goes with it and never looks back.

"Baby Driver" is destined to become one of the high watermarks for pop culture for this year. The movie is already a hit, the soundtrack will sell, you'll see numerous Halloween costumes paying tribute to varying characters and as we speak some film school drop out is trying to put his own spin on it.

Come for the car chases, stay for the music. Your soul depends on it.



9.5 out of 10 mix tapes