What a pleasant surprise this movie was! I feel like their marketing campaign didn’t do enough to convey just how unique and inventive this movie really was…because it was DOPE.
THE BLURB:
Baby, a music-loving orphan also happens to be the prodigiously talented go-to getaway driver for heist mastermind Doc. With the perfect soundtrack picked out for each and every job, Baby ensures Doc’s violent, bank-robbing cronies – including Buddy, Bats and Darling – get in and out of Dodge before it’s too late. He’s not in it for the long haul though, hoping to nail one last job before riding off into the sunset with beautiful diner waitress Debora. Easier said than done.
WHAT WORKED:
The central, brilliant concept of this movie is that EVERYTHING is choreographed.
It’s a long-standing concept/framing that one should approach an action sequence or car chase as a dance. It’s why fight coordinators are often called choreographers. Well, this movie takes that mind-set and makes it LITERAL. And, not just for the action sequences. Almost every minute of this film is timed out, danced to, and edited to music. It’s a JOY to watch. It gives it the same charm and whimsy of a musical, although the outright dancing and singing never happens…but it’s in that way that it pushes the form of an action movie.
Ansel Elgort is FAN-TAS-TIC in this movie. I’ve never seen him before, but he is a fucking star. He was sooooo good as the quiet, but charming, and incredibly musical “Baby.” His romantic lead was also wonderful.
The music was wonderful.
The car chases were impressive.
The colors and overall feel, spot-on.
Bravo. Well done.
WHAT DIDN’T:
The rest of the cast was only so-so, outside of Elgort and Lily James. I suppose that Eliza Gonzalez was fun, too, but by and large, the STAR power in this movie was pretty ho-hum. You also can’t help but cringe every time Kevin Spacey is on screen with this good-looking young man, and think about how he is exactly the type that Spacey is in hot water right now for abusing.
The good-sized hole in this movie, however, was that it wasn’t quite dangerous enough. I never felt like Baby was in real danger, and that’s a shame, because otherwise this movie would have been a goshdurn masterpiece. It’s hard to shift between whimsy and danger, but it CAN be done. Just look at PT Anderson or the Coen Brothers. They can turn the mood on a DIME, and that’s what this film needed.
Still, BRAVO. I really enjoyed. At the end of the day, the fact that it’s rather light, mindless fare doesn’t ruin it. The novelty of the world doesn’t wear thin. It’s delightful from beginning to end, and a really, truly new take on the genre.
7 out of 10 – recommended