Baby Driver

The movie was absolutely exhilarating during the action sequences, especially the car chases. But, the second the action sequences stop, the movie grinds to a halt with stereotypical writing and characters. What also doesn’t help is the self-conscious need to be cool that the film has. Some would call it style, I would call it distracting.

One last job? Seen it before. And the characters in the film are cardboard cutouts. The worst of the bunch is Jamie Foxx’s character Bats. Bats is a homicidal maniac who is hired by Spacey’s Doc for a two jobs. Doc seems to be a very careful man who plans meticulously. Why Doc would pick an unhinged impulsive person like Bats to do a job is beyond me. The whole thing reminds me of the same flaw in Michael Mann’s otherwise excellent heist film Heat where De Niro’s McCauley hires a similarly homicidal and impulsive Waingro onto his team.

Did I like the film? Kind of. Yes, for the action sequences that are fantastically shot by Bill Pope and edited by Jonathon Amos and Paul Machliss. No, for pretty much everything else.