Baby Driver

I don’t know what it is about the summer that makes me fall so behind on blogging. I saw the film Baby Driver this past July but only now am I getting around to my review. I guess the imminent end of the summer movie season makes me buckle down and get to work. It’s not that I didn’t want to review Baby Driver. I did! It was one of my most anticipated movies of this summer. I think I simply had a hard time thinking of what to even say because I loved the film and wanted to adequately express that into words. Let me just try to right here, Baby Driver is a unforgettable ride.

In Baby Driver, Baby (Ansel Elgort) is a young, music-loving getaway driver being forced to work off his debt to a crime boss (Kevin Spacey). Hopeful for a crime-free life with his new girlfriend (Lily James), Baby is once again coerced into a new heist with even higher stakes.

Baby Driver is a fun movie. That’s the first thing I can say. Directed by Edgar Wright, who also directed the Three Flavours Cornetto trilogy and Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, Baby Driver is a pure 1 hour and 52 minutes of non-stop action. It is fast paced with its action and dialogue, leaving viewers as exhilarated as a passenger in Baby’s car. It is truly unlike others in its genre. Baby Driver has a sort of aesthetic that can be attributed to Wright’s artistic vision for the film. It’s gritty yet stylish, violent yet smooth. It is ultimately cool.

The cast is great as well. Ansel Elgort has landed a dream role as Baby and plays it well with a charm that needs little dialogue. Jamie Foxx and Jon Hamm are delightfully unhinged. Kevin Spacey, in my opinion, has played the same role one too many times so I was not particularly impressed but he served it well. The inclusion of deaf actor CJ Jones was also nice as I loved his character and performance. One of my few criticisms of the film would probably be how the female characters were portrayed. They simply served as incentive supporting characters to the men. I also wished Baby’s backstory was developed a little more, but the film’s fast pace leaves limited time to dwell so I understand the intention.

The music was probably another huge highlight of the film. Baby Driver incorporates a rich, eclectic soundtrack filled with music from various decades. Baby’s love for music allows Wright to create a fantastic connection between film and music, with action on-screen perfectly coinciding to the beat. The thrilling opening scene was just one of the many standout examples of this. One small random detail that I also appreciated was the film’s setting in Atlanta. It was refreshing to not have a movie take place in New York for once.

I’ve been recommending Baby Driver to many people because I think of it as such an enjoyable movie. It’s fun, fast, and thrilling with comedic yet action-packed scenes. It’s few shortcomings are made up for by its crisp aesthetic and movement. It is one that I look forward to watching again very soon.

ALL IN ALL: Baby Driver is a thrilling ride with a killer soundtrack.

Baby Driver: 4 1/2 out of 5 ticket stubs

Director: Edgar Wright

Cast: Ansel Elgort, Lily James, Jamie Foxx, Jon Hamm, Eiza González, Kevin Spacey, CJ Jones

Run Time: 1 hr 52 min, rated R

Year: 2017

 

 

The Fault in Our Stars

I’m sure many of you have heard about this phenomenon of a book/movie. I read The Fault in Our Stars by John Green earlier this year and absolutely loved it. The writing was superb and the emotions run high. Perhaps it was a bit too philosophical for its young protagonists, but still enjoyable. High expectations were given for the film adaptation and they were met when I finally got to see it, along with some annoyance.

The Fault in Our Stars (TFIOS) tells the story of sixteen year old cancer patient Hazel Grace Lancaster (Shailene Woodley) who is forced to attend a cancer support group. Here she meets the devilishly charming Augustus Waters (Ansel Elgort) and subsequently falls in love.

I thought the film was great! Perhaps I am a bit biased because I fall in the film’s young female target audience, but I still thought it was a good adaptation of the book. The actors played their characters perfectly. Shailene Woodley’s performance was beautiful and natural. Ansel Elgort (who fun fact: played Woodley’s brother in Divergent) was simply Augustus. There were so many moments between the two characters were I just felt myself beaming. Their chemistry was palpable and refreshing, as was the story. A few scenes were left out, but you don’t really notice until afterwards. I personally liked the soundtrack as well. There is one criticism I have but it lies outside of the movie.

Practically everyone I know who has seen this film always claims to have cried. It’s a sad story no doubt about it. No, I did not cry (though I did tear up during the book). My lack of emotion during the film can be pointed to two reasons. One: I read the book already so the plot was not much of a surprise to me. “What?”, you say, “How can you have no heart?!”. I know, I know. Seeing some more of the emotional scenes on-screen should have done the trick but nope. My focus was not on the movie but on the large group of crying girls in front of me, reason #2.  I do not cry much during movies anyway but I could not enjoy TFIOS fully with these sobbing girls passing tissues to one another and choking so hard that you would think they too went through the same ordeals. I cannot fathom what it would have been like if I saw this movie opening day. A word of advice to those with little patience who also like silence during a movie: skip the theater for TFIOS and watch it at home.

Aside from that little rant, I truly did like The Fault in Our Stars. I think I need to see it again, by myself, to truly appreciate it more though. It is kind of targeted for young girls but I think its’ abundant warmth and humor can be enjoyed by many. By many, for years to come.

ALL IN ALL: The Fault in Our Stars really has no essential faults and can valued as the Love Story of this generation.

Rated PG-13, 125 minutes