Not the usual mindless summer action flick

Rating: Null/10 (14 September 2017)

If I were to use two words to describe this movie, it would be "no contrivances", in a complimentary way. It has everything that a movie needs to hold your attention: suspense, twists, excitement, fun, romance. It is just that they are delivered in a natural, simple way, free of the irritating contrivance proliferating today's big screen. I can do no better, therefore, than just follow simple narrative of the first few establishing scene.
"Baby driver" opens with a bank robbery: with two men and a woman doing the heavy-duty work while the driver, our titular protagonist (Baby" is the name by which he is known), waits in the car, obviously enjoying himself with his iPOD. Later, during the division of spoilt under mastermind Doc (an unsurpassable Kevin Spacey), while acknowledging Baby's (Ansel Elgort) essential role in the get-away, one of the robbers begrudges the fact that he does not participate in the gun-work. As well, Baby's taciturn stance ("hard as nail or scared like shxx" as the robber says) and addiction to his iPOD also rubs him the wrong way, until Doc reveals that an accident during childhood has left Baby with perpetual humming in his ears that he uses the earbuds to drown out. Later, through flashback, we understand more about Baby's troubled childhood: a model family until parents started to fight, and were both killed in the above-mentioned accident while yelling at each other in the car, with Baby in the backseat.
Next, we see Baby at home, going about in choreographed moves making a sandwich for a wheelchair-bound, hearing-impaired elderly man with whom he communicates in sign language. Very palpable behind the flippancy is his tender loving care for the old man, his foster father as it soon becomes apparent. With this, also being lovingly taken care of is Baby's character development, under director Edgar Wright who has given us such exquisite work as "Shaun of the dead" and "Hot fuzz".
Then, the screen brightens up with the appearance of waitress Debora, played by Lily James, whom fans of "Downton Abbey" will not forget from arguably the best scene in that entire series: the angelic future daughter-in-law saving the prospective father-in-law from the brink of disaster when his secret mistress shows up in the big family party (somebody's nasty prank) with a little kid. Debora the waitress that Baby encounters and immediately has a crush on as played lovingly by James is pure as Snow White. The ensuing romance is, again, uncontrived sweetness.
Just one more quick word on early plot development so I wouldn't spoil the fun. Baby, a genius of a driver, was spotted by Doc ten years ago stealing his luxury car and dumping the contents thought to be worthless. Caught by Doc, he was drafted to be the heist driver to pay back the fortune he unknowingly discarded. What followed was, believe it or not, a gentlemanly agreement, the conclusion of which we are witnessing now: the final job, and Baby is released from his debts. That accomplished, and with a romance budding, Baby carries on with his professional career of driving with a twist, to make people happy for a change. He delivers pizza at a speed as only he can manage. But then, you guess it, Doc wants Baby for another job, no longer as repayment, but as "reward" for ten years' good work. And he is very persuasive: do you want to sit behind the wheels or sit on a wheelchair?
As promised, no further spoilers. Be assured, however, that the movie will hold your interest.
There are two scenes that I like to mention. The first is when, as instructed, Baby goes into a target institution to check it out, accompanied by Doc's 10-year old nephew Sam to dilute suspicion. The slightly chubby, slightly nerdish kid, lost in the video game in his hands, seems complete oblivious to the rest of the world. That is, until after a couple of minutes in the place, he suddenly lifts his eyes from the hand-held monitor, looks up at Baby and, in a low but clearly audible voice runs through in great detail all the observed relevant information: number of close circuit cameras, guards, staff etc etc. At this juncture, you can't help but want to give this little guy a big hug, the pride of his uncle.
The other scene I like to mention requires a little explanation. Baby's unique hobby is collecting mundane daily conversations with an old-fashioned mini-cassette recorder and mixing it with pop music, thereby creating his own private collection. In this scene, he is in a face-off with Doc, after a lot has happened. It is quite natural that the robbers suspect that his recordings are for the police. After he has demonstrated his innocence with the tapes, they are nevertheless left in Doc's hands. As a parting favour, he asks for them back. Doc is not in a mood to humour him. Then, when Debora appears at his side, Doc softens, relents, musing "I was in love once".
Now, to the cast. Ansel Elgort's performance as a cancer patient in bitter-sweet "The fault in our stars" has conclusively demonstrated that he will be the most-rooted-for young face on the screen in this decade. While "Baby driver" belongs to an entirely different genre, the endearing charm remains. For Lily James, I highly recommend seeing her in the TV series "Downton Abbey". Spacey is the perfect choice for the somewhat mysterious (not so much in role as in personality) ultra-villain who somehow seem to also have a heart. After all Baby steadfastly considers Doc a trustworthy "partner", even if not a friend. The members of the gang also shine with an assortment of charisma: Jamie Foxx as the no-nonsense old timer Crazy Bat, Eiza Gonzalez as the dazzling femme fatale and Jon Hamm the psychopathic fellow-music-connoisseur.