Movie Review: BABY DRIVER: "Almost too much of a good thing"

So watching the first 10 minutes of Baby Driver, I had this sinking feeling. Not because it was bad, but quite the opposite. Let me explain. It was too good. It was such a great car chase/heist scene. It was so well done that I was afraid that director Edgar Wright wouldn't be able to keep up the pace. When you watch a sequence and you get that feeling that you actually want to watch it again (and again), you know you're in the hands of a great director. Not to keep you in too much suspense, but the rest of the film is pretty great too. While I don't think it's quite humanly possible for him to sustain that level of brilliance for the entire film, he does his best and Baby Driver is one of Edgar Wright's best.

I have been such a huge fan of his work especially Shaun of the Dead and Scott Pilgrim vs. the World. I love his absolute mastery at taking on a genre and making it his own. He seems to study and then completely internalize the genre tropes whether it's horror or action or kung fu alt rock hipster or with this film, the heist film. After internalizing the genre, he then spits it out in his own absurd, frenetic style that feels both original and completely entertaining. So I have to say when it comes to the action scenes and the gangster scenes in this film, it's absolutely masterful. The action scenes are set to their own song and every edit, every shot, every performance fits the song's rhythm, lyrics and style. It's so meticulously planned out but at the same time, it feels organically linked to what's going on screen. Clearly, Edgar Wright has been working on this concept for a long time and has worked out every angle. Then, there are the gangster scenes. These are the scenes we all know with the gangsters planning the heist, talking tough talk and offering up ironic, pithy comments at every turn. Wright directs his amazing cast in these scenes with just as much life and style. Jamie Foxx and Jon Hamm are stand outs who bring both hilarious moments and very dangerous one to life.

If there is one area that's a bit weaker than the action and the gangster aspects, its the love story at the heart of the film. It's not bad by any means, but it doesn't quite sing as the other elements. I think the lead actor, Ansel Elgort plays Baby Driver well and his love interest played by Lily James is fine and their relationship really seems to be heart felt but at the same time, we have seen this one a million times and so it feels like the romance is sort of driven more by the fact that the film tells us that we should care for them more than it wins our hearts. I think as a filmmaker, Edgar Wright is in love with the genre and its tropes more than he is in love with the characters and this is fine. But it's hard to really care deeply for these characters when they are really more of types than fully fleshed out people. But you know, I often think films should be taken by their own goals. I don't think this films' goals are really about making the romance to end all romances. It's real goal is to blow you away by giving you one of the funniest, freshest, well crafted heist films in many, many years. Mission accomplished.

Four and 1/2 stars