Baby Driver, written and directed Edgar Wright, 1 h 52 min
The most spectacular parts of this movie are the car chases. But car chases have been franchised in The Fast and the Furious and its many sequels, so what makes Baby Driver special?
First is a plot that keeps you guessing from start to finish. The Baby Driver is a precocious wheelman for a band of bank robbers. He wants out, but the mastermind of the robberies won’t let him. And up until the very end, you won’t know whether he will get away.
Second are the great characters. Kevin Spacey as Doc, the leader of the robbers, is as evil as ever. John Hamm, stepping out of his typical roles, is Buddy (an incongruous name for the normally elegant actor), the most resourceful and dangerous of the thieves. Jamie Foxx is Bats, the most ruthless and sadistic. All the descriptive names are part of the fun.
But the film’s focus is Ansel Elgort as Baby – yes, that really is his name, and he is the driver. He is as silent and laconic as an early Eastwood but with lots more nuance. Since the car accident that killed his parents when he was young and left him partially deaf from tinnitus, he has avoided any emotional entanglements. After he falls for a guileless waitress, Darling (Eiza Gonzáles), all he wants is to run away with her and leave the criminal life behind, but Doc, Buddy and Bats are determined to stop him any way they can.
Last, but certainly not least, is the music. Many of the songs have “Baby” in the lyrics, a broad staple of sixties rock, particularly soul: B-A-B-Y, by Carla Thomas; Baby I’m Yours, Barbara Lewis; When Something is Wrong with My Baby, Sam & Dave; and, of course, the movie’s theme, Baby Driver by Simon & Garfunkel. And there are nearly 30 other songs that will make you want to download the soundtrack as soon as you leave the theater. With the music synched to the plot there is a distinct rhythm that propels the action.
With echoes of Saturday Night Fever and Bonnie and Clyde, Baby Driver keeps you guessing until the very end, and you’re totally engaged, rooting for Baby to outwit the bad guys. I already want to see it again.
Grade: A
Beguiled, directed by Sofia Coppola, 1 hr 44 min
The beauty of the opening scene belies the violence and sexual tensions to come. Ancient oak trees, festooned with Spanish moss, arch the drive up to an elegant southern plantation, transformed into the Miss Farnsworth School for Young Ladies.
Miss Martha Farnsworth’s (Nicole Kidman) family home is now a school for girls who have been sent north from the ravages of Union armies in the Deep South. Edwina (Kirsten Dunst) is her assistant.
The school is a place of calm for them and the five girls in their charge, but the boom of distant cannon reminds them that the war is all around them. Amy (Oona Laurence), the most curious of the girls, finds McBurney (Colin Farrell), a wounded Yankee soldier, in the woods. As he fades in and out of consciousness, Martha, Edwina and the girls drag him back to the house and treat his wounds.
As he slowly recovers, the lonely women are drawn to him. The domineering Martha is barely able to keep her hands from straying as she bathes him. The subservient, but passionate Edwina brazenly kisses him on the mouth. The oldest of the girls is Alicia (Elle Fanning in yet another Lolita role), and she quickly lets McBurney know she is his for the taking. Even the little girls dress up for him. McBurney’s sly grin shows that he is ready to take advantage of all of them. But when he seduces one of them, his porn-plot world starts to crumble.
In this remake of the 1971 original with Clint Eastwood and Geraldine Page, Sofia Coppola infuses the film with her trademark feminism. She skillfully depicts the loneliness of the woman and unapologetically allows them their natural desires. Even in their very vulnerable circumstances, Coppola let's them rely on each other, without any help from a man, to do whatever's necessary to survive.
Farrell excels as McBurney, making him charming, sly and violent. Kidman skillfully blends strength and weakness in Martha, while Dunst gives Edwina just the right amount of passivity mixed with recklessness. The only false note is Fanning as the young seductress. It's her looks, not her acting that gets her these roles. She even loses her southern accent halfway through the movie.
Grade: B