Music in Motion

There are certain songs that are just conducive to driving – “Baby, You Can Drive My Car” (The Beatles), “Crosstown Traffic” (Jimi Hendrix). . . or, perhaps, if you’re like those in David Cronenberg’s erotic, accident seeking film Crash, “Hit Me Baby One More Time” (Britney Spears). This is the genesis of the new 2017 movie Baby Driver – the soundtrack belongs to the young getaway driver, listening to his playlist as he puts the pedal to the metal and “Lets the Good Times Roll” (The Cars).

An impressive example of music in motion, writer/director Edgar Wright (Shaun of the Dead; Hot Fuzz) develops a highly original concept that in some ways feels like a musical. A quasi-form of Mickey Mousing (when music and action match up onscreen), the film is uniformly paired with the tracks heard throughout – edited and sometimes even lip synched/danced to by the characters.

Look to the examples of the tunes highlighted above, as I’ve decided to have some fun with this review and interlace the names of different songs throughout – some that are featured in Baby Driver and some that just help describe the story and action.

Baby (Ansel Elgort) is, you guessed it, a getaway driver. Blessed with mad skills, his perfect theme song might be “I Can’t Drive 55” (Sammy Hagar). With a slight twang in his voice (a touch of Elvis one could say) and a penchant for having a skip to his step, the youth has a debt which makes him beholden to Doc (Kevin Spacey), a criminal mastermind who concocts big heists and forms teams to get the job done. Never uniting the same group twice, Baby is the one constant.

Opening with an epic car chase, Baby helps Griff (Jon Bernthal), Buddy (Jon Hamm) and Darling (Eiza Gonzalez) evade the police after robbing a bank. Performed to “Bellbottoms” (by The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion), the intricacies of the chase and Baby’s playful patience while he waits in the car echo the song, lasting the exact amount of time it takes for the tune to finish. Talk about “Good Timin’” (Jimmy Jones).

With a heartbreaking back story, Baby lost his parents (played in flashbacks by Sky Ferreira and Lance Palmer) in a car accident, and he has been “Behind the Wheel” (Depeche Mode). . . and “Mr. Lonely” (Bobby Vinton) ever since. Suffering from a major case of tinnitus (much like Pete Townshend of The Who), music is the only thing that drowns out the ringing, which means that he is rarely found without a few iPods in hand (different ones for different moods), and his requisite shades – making him an unreadable enigma. Add the fact that he rarely ever talks, and he really gives his loud-mouthed criminal compatriots an unsettling feeling.

Raised by his deaf foster dad, Joseph (CJ Jones), he has the ability to read lips and focus in a way that is rather unusual (making it seem like he is not paying attention). Enjoying recording people while they talk, he then mixes them into highly synthesised songs. It is this retro recorder that catches the eye of waitress Debora (Lily James) – who works at the all-night diner that Baby’s mother worked at, though he “Saw Her Standing There” (The Beatles) well before she noticed him. With the device drawing them together, sparks soon fly in their equally complicated lives.

With Baby constantly on call, he works a number of jobs, including one that brings together a rough and tumble group featuring noseless Eddie (Flea – Red Hot Chili Peppers), tatted JD (Lanny Joon), and a bombastic, overly aggressive, “Crazy” (Gnarls Barkley) trigger happy thug, Bats (Jamie Foxx). Bats has an issue with the kid, not liking his penchant for using music while he works (playing off of Foxx’s musical background, it is funny that he is truly the only character who has a problem with it).

Finally paying off his debt, Baby looks to settle down and enjoy a “Whole Lotta Love” (Led Zeppelin) with his new girl. Though, just when he thought he was out, he is dragged back in by the manipulative boss. Will he be able to take his girl west and finally live life as a “Free Bird” (Lynyrd Skynyrd) – once again able to “Walk the Line” (Johnny Cash) between good versus evil, or will he find himself on the “Highway to Hell” (AC/DC) along with the rest of the lowlifes he is forced to work with?

Mixing his tormented past with his chance at “Puppy Love” (Paul Anka), these dichotomous cruxes are at the centre of our protagonist’s tale, and Baby Driver combines fast paced action thrills with real heart that can best be described by one of the movie’s rock songs, “Radar Love” (Golden Earring). It is nice to see a summer box office flick that combines characters and quality acting with the high octane explosiveness that comes along with the action.

Actually, the movie reminded me a bit of Mad Max: Fury Road; both are highly stylized, action centred driving flicks, despite the fact that one is set in a post-apocalyptic landscape and the other is set in Atlanta – and no, I am not implying anything by saying that. They are both richly crafted spectacles, visualizing the unimaginable with limited amounts of computer generated effects; a visually pleasing and rather rare site in this day and age – each sequence having the horsepower to thrust us back into our seats, quite the “Neat Neat Neat” (The Damned) experience. Wright uses a steady hand and spot on angles to depict the action, an easy on the eyes film with plenty of panache. Often spinning his camera during discussions (be it between a group of thieves or the two hopeful lovers) or focussing on the movement of washing machines (or other such things), there is a cyclical feeling to the film, reverberating the vibe of watching that beloved record click into place on your turntable – knowing that it means the beginning of that “Sweet Soul Music” (Arthur Conley).

With the music playing an utterly important role in the film, it is, in a way, a character itself. Wholly diegetic – meaning that it is heard by the personas onscreen, we are listening to the songs that they are hearing. Toying around with that, the volume rises and falls with the ear buds, or, for instance, when one of the iPod’s gets destroyed, the music cuts out completely. . . and we mainly hear Baby’s tinnitus. Featuring both ‘The Sound of Music’ and “The Sound of Silence” (Simon & Garfunkel), Baby Driver is a prime example of the varied things filmmakers can do on the audio side of things. Keep your ears open for Queen’s “Brighton Rock” – which is referenced a few times throughout the feature, for it is combined with cacophonous, frenetic action sounds and dialogue for a full, muddled and realistic effect.

An engaging, action packed, and sometimes comedic adventure (a stand out moment finds the criminals disgusted when one of their rank picks up the wrong Halloween masks, thinking they wanted Mike Myers – Austin Powers, when they actually wanted the daunting horror legend Michael Myers), Edgar Wright places us in the seat beside Baby Driver, and when mixed with the killer soundtrack, takes us along for the “Wild Ride” (The Doobie Brothers). Don’t turn a deaf ear to this million miles an hour paced motion picture, you’ll feel all the cooler after screening this new release. And just in case you didn’t know, “Baby Driver” is a song by Simon & Garfunkel – another example of the way the music, in a meta-way, references the film itself.