Reactions visible to anyoneReactions visible to owner’s Close FriendsReactions only visible to youDraft entryVisible to anyone (with link)Visible to the member’s friends (with link)Only visible to you
The challenge with Edgar Wright’s movies isn’t just keeping up with the intensity of tiny details, fast cuts and clever references with which he loads them. It’s the fact that all those directorial choices are so damn overdetermined. If there’s a detail that Wright needs you to understand in order to advance the plot, he damn well makes sure it’s put in front of you, loudly and clearly, with a spotlight on it, so that there’s no way you’ll miss it. “LOOK HERE DON’T MISS THIS!” he signals, over and over again. This problem is evident in spades in “Baby Driver,” an amusing romp for twenty or so minutes until it overwhelms with frenetic stylization and almost oppressive obviousness. What results is the kind of low-level headache or discomfort that you might get from lingering too long in a very loud restaurant; what you want more than anything is some kind of pause in the din, a change of pace or maybe a breath of fresh air—some relief from the airlessness of Wright’s hyperactive constructions. The closest thing to that here is a juicy turn as an unpredictable bad guy from Jamie Foxx, who alone among the cast is able to break through in the moments he’s afforded screen time—before Wright hastily shifts his attention elsewhere.
Letterboxd is an independent service created by a small team, and we rely mostly on the support of our members to maintain our site and apps. Please consider upgrading to a Pro account—for less than a couple bucks a month, you’ll get cool additional features like all-time and annual stats pages (example), the ability to select (and filter by) your favorite streaming services, and no ads!
