A musical more than a rubber-burner, Baby Driver is the La La Land of caper films, derivative and occasionally funโtake that as praise if you loved La La Land. Compared to his earlier work, Baby Driver is twice the tropes and half the jokes.
Kevin Spacey is Doc, a criminal mastermind in Atlanta. His lucky charm is an eccentric wheelman who calls himself Baby Ansel Elgort, made up with small but interesting Miles Teller-style scars on his kissable baby face.
When Baby speaksโhe doesn't oftenโthe voice is buttery like the shy Elvis, and the plush lips look like The King's; he's the kind of gentleman who calls the lady whose car he just jacked "ma'm.
Having retired from crime, he's courting Debora Lily James a gold hearted waitress. But just when Baby is trying to get out, the man pulls him back in. And despite his insistence on clockwork precision, and new crews for every heist, Doc keeps hiring a psycho called Bats Jamie Foxx. The thug's rage turns all the fun and games into something where people get hurt. Wright's rhythm and talent shows when he's following Baby carrying a tray of coffees through downtown, a kind of dance. Spacey seems ready to burst into song as he patters out the details of a holdup.
The writing goes rococoโa gun merchant called "The Butcher" Paul Williams promises "the best prices in Christendom. Baby Driver is an exercise in style and it goes mawkish at times.
