Pedal to the metal ! Fantastic ride, great cast, superior soundtrack

Rating: 8/10 (15 July 2017)

Baby (Ansel Elgort) has a tragic history, His mother and father were killed in a traffic accident when he was about ten and, as a teen, he once stole with Doc's (Kevin Spacey) fancy auto with a big pile of cash inside. This made him in deep debt to the older man, who is a criminal gang leader. Thus, Baby now drives the getaway car on the gang's many heists in and around Atlanta. The young driver is enormously gifted behind the wheel, earning the grudging admiration of fellow gangsters Buddy (Jon Hamm), Darling (Eisa Gonzalez), and Bats (Jamie Foxx) among others. Doc says its "one more ride" and the debt will be paid. Baby is elated, especially when meets beautiful waitress Debora (Lily James) in a rundown diner. Also happy is Baby's aging foster father (CJ Jones), a deaf man who has longed for Baby to get away from crime. Yet, once Baby has been freed, gets a job for Goodfellas pizza and makes plans to take Lily away, Doc comes blackmailing Baby into one more job. Its a theft of a post office and things go wrong almost from the start. Needing fresh guns, Bats, Buddy and Darling go to a junkyard to pick them up from Butcher (Paul Williams, what fun), where things go terribly awry. Now, Baby may have to battle foes and pseudo-friends alike to stay alive. Can Baby and Debora drive into the bright sunset? This fantastic film is a bit rough, yes, for some folks. There's no sexual situations but there is some fairly bloody violence. It is rated R, after all. But, the tale is so enormously entertaining that its hard NOT to hitch a thrill ride. The cast is likewise wonderful, with Elgort a darling as Baby and Hamm, Gonzalez, Foxx, Spacey, James, Jones, and everyone doing great work. What a treat, too, to see Altanta in the rearview, with the camera turned to beautiful and seedy spaces. As mentioned, the script is glorious and the direction, both by Edgar Wright, is light-speed action. Most importantly, the eclectic soundtrack is one of the best ever. Baby yourself, baby, and drive out to catch this one.