I finally got around to watching Baby Driver, an action crime thriller written and directed by Edgar Wright (Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World). It takes the heist film genre to a whole new level that is both entertaining and mind-blowing.

Baby (Ansel Elgort) is a getaway driver working for career criminal Doc (Kevin Spacey) to pay off a debt. While the gang rotates, Baby stays the same. He is a brilliant racer with tinnitus caused by a childhood car accident. He has a love of music to drown out the constant ringing. While many of Doc’s rotating gang of bank robbers doubt Baby, he always manages to pull a clean getaway. One day, he meets a waitress named Debora (Lily James). Though their interaction is brief, they soon start dating over their mutual love of music.

While out on a particularly tough heist, Baby drives for unstable felon Bats (Jamie Foxx), nearly getting killed in the process. This clears his debt to Doc and Baby tries to live a normal life. Soon after, however, Doc comes to call on Baby and forces him to do another heist with Bats, Buddy (Jon Hamm), and Darling (Eiza González). They’re a team of unstable and violent gangsters, disrupting his plans to leave town with Lily.

I cannot praise this film enough. It has heart, action, a great plot, and is epic. Ansel Elgort and Lily James are the perfect castings for the main characters. Their chemistry was finely tuned and they worked well together during the entirety of the film.

The rest of the cast does a good job as well. Jon Hamm also shines as one of the film’s main antagonists. He brings a creepy “funness” to his role as he drove (pardon the pun) the plot to its dramatic climax. Jamie Foxx and Eiza González were also brilliant in their roles, adding to the edginess to the antagonists.

When it comes to the story, I thought it was amazing. Baby’s arc captures the loneliness of crime, the desire for true love, the hope for a new life, and the desperate attempts at redemption. It goes from being about a boy trying to find himself, to being about a man trying to redeem his soul. Edgar Wright does an excellent job of matching these themes, weaving them into the scenes, sets, and story.

Now for the elephant in the room: the music. It was truly epic. Steven Price handled the music and it is not an understatement to say that he brought it to complete fruition, making it a complete set of a truly masterful film.

Bottom line, Baby Driver is my favorite film of the year. Besides the stellar performances, it is just a truly brilliant movie that deserves Best Picture and Best Director wins for sure. Let’s hope the Academy Awards actually nominate a film this one.

Check out the trailer below:

What do you think? Let me know in the comments below. Tell me if there is a comic book, movie, or novel you would like me to review. While you are at it, check out my movie reviews of Blade Runner 2049 and Wonder Woman. Don’t forget to like, share, and subscribe for more posts like this one.

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