Baby Driver is this summer’s surprise blockbuster

Movie Title:
Baby Driver

Grade: A

Rating: R, 113 minutes

In a Nutshell: This musical masterpiece moves fast and with infectious style. It’s fresh and furious fun.

Director Edgar Wright delivers a smart, cool, funny, and brilliant movie. It’s not a family-friendly movie and deserves its R rating for violence, but I loved it. It’s just so clever and cool.

Uplifting theme:

“Everybody wants happiness; nobody wants pain, but you can’t have a rainbow without a little rain.”
“Do you have a lucky soundtrack?” – Buddy (Jon Hamm)
Music, sound, language, love

Things I liked:

The opening sequence was awesome. Almost immediately after that is another scene that is pure magic while the opening credits roll. Pay attention to the graffiti on the walls during that scene for some fun Easter eggs.
The camera work is amazing. Perfection.
The talented cast nails it with fantastic acting. I liked Ansel Elgort in a lot of his former roles in movies, but I really loved him in this one. He shines, even among greats like Oscar winners Kevin Spacey and Jamie Foxx.
I first fell in love with the lovely Lily James in Cinderella. I’ll watch any movie with her in it.
The action sequences are unbelievable. I caught myself holding my breath several times. The stunt team deserves an Oscar.
The soundtrack is awesome, although has a lot of explicit language. Baby Driver (Music from the Motion Picture) [Explicit]. It’s not just great music, but each song serves a purpose for a specific moment in the film. I loved that the closing song was Simon & Garfunkel’s Baby Driver. Of course! I used to listen to that song all of the time growing up. I thought that album was awesome.
This film has GOT to be nominated for an Oscar in sound or mixing or something. It is noticeably excellent. There are fantastic rhythms and songs constantly…so much so that some people are actually calling this movie a musical. You’ll be humming and tapping your toes the entire time. This movie will make you want to dance and drive really fast.
I’ve heard that there was some CGI, but everything looks super real.
It’s not predictable. Thank you!
It’s not a sequel to anything. Thank you!
My father-in-law had Tinnitus and now my husband is getting it. It’s fascinating how sound, music, and language play such an important part in this movie. My niece married a man who is deaf, so we’ve all been learning sign language. It’s used in the movie with subtitles.
You KNOW Mike Meyers/Austin Powers masks are going to do really well in sales now.
Great transitions and editing.
Baby and Deborah almost always wear black and white, while the others in the cast wear color, illustrating that their love is timeless and clear.
Apparently, Jon Hamm’s role was written just for him. Jamie Foxx said about Jon Hamm, “He’s too handsome.”

Things I didn’t like:

I only saw the trailer once. That goes to show you that marketing doesn’t make a movie great. This movie is great with very little marketing.
I wish we could have heard Lily James sing more! I love her!

SPOILER: There didn’t seem to be enough substance in the romance for Deborah to make the choices she did.

Funny lines:

“Am I being monitored for quality assurance?” – Deborah (Lily James)
“This here is JD. He put the invasion in Asian.” – Doc (Kevin Spacey)
“Not groovy, JD. Not groovy at all.” – Bats (Jamie Foxx)
“I got different ipods for different days and moods.” – Baby

“So you’re in a pink and sparkly mood?” – Deborah

“I am now.” – Baby

“Have we met?” – bad guy

“Are you alive?” – Bats

“Yeah” – bad guy

“Then I guess we haven’t met.” – Bats

“You rob to support a drug habit. I do drugs to support a robbing habit.” – Bats
“Not a chauffeur. Note.” – Deborah
“Don’t ever quote lines from Monsters, Inc.. It ticks me off.” – Doc

Tips for parents: