by The Driver is back – and with a Bang! But this time, it’s not your typical, suicidal psychopath who’s got little to live for and nothing to lose. This isn’t Travis Bickle, pouring apricot liquor over his cornflakes, popping pills and watching porn. Meet Baby, the Driver of a now and vastly different generation caught somewhere between progress, new technology and a longing desire for nostalgia. Not at all in the tradition of Ryan Gosling’s Driver in the 2011 DRIVE, BABY DRIVER is the return of a cultural icon in a brand new shape. And the resulting film is one of the highlights of its decade.
Baby (Ansel Elgert) is a getaway driver for Doc (Kevin Spacey), a very successful kingpin in Atlanta’s underground. Doc is calling the shot. All the shots. He assembles a new crew for every single job, even telling them what masks to wear to disguise their faces (and a thug hilariously mistakes the famous mask out of John Carpenter’s HALLOWEEN (1978) with a mask of Mike Myers as Austin Powers). But Baby stays with him. On every single job, he’s the Driver. Suffering from tinnitus, he’s listening to music played from a variety of different iPods in all colors for different moods non-stop over his headphones. Even when he’s driving. And that Baby’s the king of all Drivers is clarified from the very beginning. His first four-wheeled weapon is a Subaru Impress WRX “Hawkeye”, one of the most capable Group A rallying machines ever built. Fire engine red and gorgeous, Baby drifts the Impreza around Atlanta with police cars in tow in what has to be some of the best driving ever on screen. Seeing that iconic car doing what it’s best at is already worth the ticket. Few movies stand up to the challenge, including DRIVE. Executed to perfection, the first car chase of the film is both satisfying and appetizing, making you yearn for more. And there is more, if not what would be expected for prior experience with the Driver.
Despite a rich tradition of Drivers starting back in the 60s, Baby is not a psychopath seeking love and violence simultaneously. In fact, Baby’s history is poignant, his driving skills the only reason he’s getting by – and potentially the only reason Doc hasn’t dealt with him yet. After his parents died in a car crash because they were having a fight, Baby survived while listening to music, not only physically scarred and injured. His deaf-mute foster-father Joseph (CJ Jones) took him in and raised him. Even though they’re close, yet somewhat distant because they can only insufficiently share Baby’s passion by Joseph feeling a song on a booming loudspeaker, Baby still turned to stealing cars. To make ends meet? To feel something, a thrill of some kind? Or just to obtain a ride? This is anybody’s guess. What matters is, he ended up stealing a car from Doc, who knows his potential, both as Driver and for being exploited. While Doc is standing up for his Driver when he rubs members of his heist crew the wrong way, to assume Doc was another foster-father to Baby is completely wrong. He compels his Driver to work for him until his deed his done, and even after Baby finishes the promised last job, Doe blackmails him to return. That he pays him generously is beside the point. Doc knows Baby is different. Because Baby, despite his tragic past, has something to lose.
Debora (Lily James), working as waitress at an old-school diner, is Baby’s soul mate. They get along from the spot and are bonded not only by their shared love of music and similar history. Being fully appreciated by someone other than his foster-father must be new to Baby. You should assume a guy that gets the job done making it look simple, quietly listening to music and fetching coffee for the crew would at least be left alone, but that’s far from the truth. Baby’s style singles him out as “freak”, or slow or anything other than normal even in the company of thugs. At first, Budd (Jon Hamm), seems to have a soft spot for him and his taste in music. But being an outcast himself , a former broker turned addict first, then criminal, maybe both, he apparently views Baby as proof that he could be doing worse. So he’s no different from his girlfriend and robber colleague Darling (Eiza Gonzalez) or even the aggressively insane Bats (Jamie Foxx). Bats is a bully and maniac, and even though Baby doesn’t fail to do his Job. A bully can’t help being what he’s always been. Elgert puts up a superb performance, playing a young man that ostensibly can’t be shaken. But when he’s alone or with Debora, we see his true colors, some as bright as that distinctive pink of an old iPod.
Look, here’s the deal. You rob to support a drug habit. I do drugs to support a robbery habit.
Bats
Colors are essential to BABY DRIVER, deployed to signify differences between characters. Baby’s color is gray or black, but that merely reflects his outside. The real Driver is hidden from most people’s view, including Doc, unmasking him as false father figure. The real Driver is trying to keep the past alive, particularly through music. Not only the iPods are old-school. Baby drives a 70s car that should suit a pimp cruising down Times Square driving next to Travis Bickle’s yellow metal coffin. He uses dated equipment and a tape recorder to make mix tapes, utilizing snippets recorded during briefings. Of course, this makes him suspicious. But anyone seeing Baby listening to music when unobserved, or having fun at home with Joseph, or doing another mix tape, and particularly when he’s with Debora, understands that he’s obviously not trying to set Doc and his crew up. This retro fix is his means of dealing with the loss of his parents, his mother in particular. In fact, a tape of his mother’s recordings is the only physical thing he truly treasures in this world. With Debora comes a stint of genuine happiness. But with Debora, Baby’s former existence also starts to deteriorate.
The more we see of Baby, the less he’s the Driver, yet the more he’s drawn as a true character. This differs him from many Drivers in history. And while some criticism could be aimed at the characters not being original or fresh, but rather stock, this is least true about Baby. With him being the protagonist, a fresh gun-wielding lunatic might’ve taken up too much space. That said, neither characters nor acting pose any issues. If anything, the film’s final cut could’ve been a tad shorter to keep the magnificent, high-octane pace set in the first act. Also, the Driver could’ve been equipped with another race car to rival the car chase with the Impreza WRX. But all of this is peanuts. BABY DRIVER is a splendid film with great visuals, superb acting, great and creative dialogue, busloads of action and doubtlessly the best Driver in cinema history.
With BABY DRIVER, director and writer Edgar Wright made a film that surpassed all predecessors inspiring it, including films such as THE FRENCH CONNECTION (1971), VANISHING POINT(1971)or RESERVOIR DOGS (1993). For the first time in a long while, a familiar character is reinvented. And in an entertaining film that works, with little to criticize. Wright’s use of symbols, epitomes, especially colors, adds to the film without stripping any appeal for those that came for the car chases or gun action. Anyone should watch this for the red rocket of a car opening the film and then stay for BABY DRIVER to unfold its true potential.
