Baby Driver

For other uses, see Baby Driver (disambiguation).

Baby Driver
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Edgar Wright
Written by	Edgar Wright
Produced by	Tim Bevan Eric Fellner Nira Park
Starring	Ansel Elgort Kevin Spacey Lily James Jon Bernthal Eiza González Jon Hamm Jamie Foxx
Cinematography	Bill Pope
Edited by	Jonathan Amos Paul Machliss
Music by	Steven Price
Production companies	Working Title Films Big Talk Productions Media Rights Capital
Distributed by	TriStar Pictures
Release dates	March 11, 2017 (2017-03-11) (SXSW) June 28, 2017 (2017-06-28) (US/UK)
Running time	113 minutes
Countries	United Kingdom United States
Language	English
Budget	$34 million
Box office	$45.9 million

Baby Driver is a 2017 American action film written and directed by Edgar Wright, starring Ansel Elgort, Kevin Spacey, Lily James, Jon Bernthal, Eiza González, Jon Hamm and Jamie Foxx. The plot follows Baby, a young getaway driver who is coerced into working for a kingpin.

Baby Driver was co-produced by Working Title Films and Big Talk Productions and was distributed worldwide by Sony Pictures and by TriStar Pictures in the US. It premiered at South by Southwest on March 11, 2017 and was released theatrically on June 28, 2017. The film received critical acclaim and has grossed $45 million worldwide.

Plot

Baby is a young and talented getaway driver in Atlanta, Georgia. When he was a child, a car accident killed both his parents and left him with severe tinnitus, which he blocks out using music. He also records his everyday conversations and remixes them into songs using vintage audio equipment. Baby works for Doc, a mastermind heist planner, to pay off a debt he incurred after stealing one of Doc's cars. Baby lives with his deaf foster father, Joseph, whom he cares for.

After pulling off a robbery, Baby is told that the next job will pay off his debt. Between jobs, Baby meets waitress Debora at a diner he frequents, and the two strike up a friendship. During his next job - an armored car robbery - with another crew, Baby is distracted when seeing a dead security guard. He makes several mistakes, but still manages to escape. Doc informs Baby his debt is paid, and instructs him to get rid of a car carrying the corpse of one of the robbers, who was killed for being careless and leaving behind a shotgun. Taking Joseph's advice, Baby works as a pizza delivery man. He takes Debora to a fancy restaurant, where he runs into Doc. Doc tells Baby to be ready for another job. Baby agrees in order to keep Debora and Joseph safe.

The job is a post office robbery, where the plan is to steal several boxes of money orders. The crew consists of members from the previous two heists: Buddy (a former stock broker), Darling (Buddy's wife) and Bats, an unhinged and ruthless killer. They go to acquire weapons from a dealer nicknamed Butcher. Realizing Butcher is a policeman, Bats starts a gunfight that kills most of the Butcher's group and injures Darling. The group stops at the diner where Debora works, but an argument between Buddy and Bats prompts them to leave without eating. Back to Doc's place, the group are chastised for killing the policemen, who were paid off by Doc and were supposed to fence the money orders. Doc calls off the heist, but changes his mind after Buddy reveals he knows another fence. Baby attempts to leave and run away with Debora, but is stopped by Bats and Buddy, who find his recorder with their recorded conversation. Upon hearing one of his tapes, the group concludes that Baby is not trying to rat on them. However, Bats notices a tape labeled "Debora", and realizes Baby knows her.

During the heist, Buddy, Darling and Bats successfully steal the money orders, and enter Baby's car. Baby stalls for a moment, then drives the car straight into a parked truck, killing Bats. The remaining three flee the scene. Baby steals a car, but runs into Darling and Buddy's stolen car. The police catch up to them and Darling is killed. As Baby flees, Buddy vows revenge on him for getting Darling killed. Baby leaves Joseph at an assisted living home with all of his money; he returns to the diner, where Buddy is waiting with Debora. Baby shoots Buddy and flees with Debora as the police closes in.

Baby goes to Doc to retrieve his tapes. After seeing Baby with Debora, Doc gives them a bag of money, stating he was in love once as well. At the parking garage, they are ambushed by Butcher's men. Doc kills them, but Buddy, who earlier managed to evade the police, runs him over. Deciding to stop running, Baby takes a truck and pushes Buddy's car off a ledge. However, Buddy escapes before the car falls, and fires his gun next to Baby's ears, temporarily deafening him. Debora knocks away Buddy's gun, which Baby uses to shoot him, causing him to fall into his burning car.

Debora drives Baby away, but they are stopped by police, to whom Baby surrenders. For his crimes, Baby is sentenced to 25 years in prison, with a parole hearing after five. Baby (whose real name is revealed to be Miles) receives postcards from Debora, who promises to wait for him.

Cast

• Ansel Elgort as Miles "Baby", a young man with a love for music who works as the getaway driver for a rotating crew of bank robbers.
  • Hudson Meek as Young Baby
• Lily James as Debora, a young waitress and Baby's romantic interest.
• Kevin Spacey as Doc, the mysterious kingpin of the rag-tag crew of bank robbers and a veteran criminal mastermind.
• Jon Hamm as Jason "Buddy" Van Horn, the handsome party animal and one of the villains, part of the bank robber's gang and a former Wall Street trader.
• Jamie Foxx as Leon "Bats" Jefferson III, the impulsive gun-slinging cohort of the bank robbing crew.
• Jon Bernthal as Griff, one of the bank robbers who mocks Baby constantly.
• Eiza González as Monica "Darling" Costello, one of the bank robbers, Buddy’s lawless and scandalous wife and partner in crime.
• CJ Jones as Joseph, Baby's foster father.
• Flea as Eddie "No-Nose", one of the bank robbers.
• Lanny Joon as JD, one of the bank robbers.
• Sky Ferreira as Baby's mom.
• Big Boi as Restaurant Patron #1
• Killer Mike as Restaurant Patron #2
• Paul Williams as the Butcher
• Jon Spencer as Prison Guard

Production

Development

Writer-director Edgar Wright conceived Baby Driver in 1994; however, he adapted the film's original planned beginning into a 2003 music video he directed for Mint Royale's "Blue Song", which starred Noel Fielding as a music-loving getaway driver for a group of bank robbers.

Casting

On July 22, 2014, it was announced that Edgar Wright, who left the project Ant-Man, would next direct Baby Driver for Working Title Films. Tim Bevan, Eric Fellner and Nira Park would produce the film. On January 13, 2015, it was reported that Ansel Elgort was in early talks to join the film, which Sony Pictures Entertainment would release through TriStar Pictures. Emma Stone and Michael Douglas were also being eyed to be cast in the film. On May 7, 2015, Lily James was in talks to join the film for female lead to play a waitress and love interest of Elgort's character. Media Rights Capital and TriStar would be co-distributing the film together in the US, which Park would produce through her Big Talk Productions and Wright writing the script.

On September 8, 2015, Jamie Foxx was reportedly in talks to join the film. On October 20, 2015, Jon Hamm signed on to star in the film to play one of the villains, part of the bank robbers gang and a former Wall Street trader. On November 3, 2015, Kevin Spacey was cast in the film to play the role of the boss of the crew and a veteran criminal. On December 16, 2015, Eiza González joined the film to play one of the bank robbers and Hamm's character's girlfriend. On February 23, 2016, Jon Bernthal was cast as Griff. On January 8, 2017, Wright posted via Twitter that "Streep is in my new movie", deleting the tweet shortly afterward, leading some to speculate that Meryl Streep would appear in Baby Driver. Streep would cameo in the movie from a previous film on a television set.

Filming

Principal photography on the film began on February 17 and concluded on May 13, 2016, in Atlanta, Georgia.

Soundtrack

Baby Driver (Music from the Motion Picture)
Soundtrack album by Various artists
Released	June 23, 2017 (2017-06-23)
Genre	R&B, rock and roll, pop, blues, soul, funk, hard rock, hip hop
Length	1:43:53
Label	30th Century Records
Producer	Danger Mouse

Baby Driver (Music from the Motion Picture) is the soundtrack album of the film of the same name. The soundtrack was released on June 23, 2017 on CD, vinyl and digital music via the Columbia Records imprint, 30th Century Records. The album features a combinations of artists, ranging from various decades, including Blur, Run the Jewels, Sky Ferreira, Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, Queen and Golden Earring. "Holy Calamity (Bear Witness II)" by Handsome Boy Modeling School appears in the film but is not included on the soundtrack.

Track listing

The soundtrack features three original tracks – 'Easy' by Sky Ferreira, ‘Chase Me’, by Danger Mouse, featuring Run The Jewels and Big Boi and 'Was He Slow?' by Kid Koala. 'Chase Me' heavily samples 'Bellbottoms' by the Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, also featured on the soundtrack.

No.	Title	Artist(s)	Length
1.	"Bellbottoms"	Jon Spencer Blues Explosion	5:17
2.	"Harlem Shuffle"	Bob & Earl	2:52
3.	"Egyptian Reggae"	Jonathan Richman & The Modern Lovers	2:37
4.	"Smokey Joe's La La"	Googie Rene	3:02
5.	"Let's Go Away For Awhile"	The Beach Boys	2:21
6.	"B-A-B-Y"	Carla Thomas	2:57
7.	"Kashmere"	Kashmere Stage Band	4:57
8.	"Unsquare Dance"	Dave Brubeck	2:00
9.	"Neat Neat Neat"	The Damned	2:42
10.	"Easy (Single Version)"	The Commodores	4:16
11.	"Debora"	T. Rex	3:19
12.	"Debra"	Beck	5:43
13.	"Bongolia"	Incredible Bongo Band	2:15
14.	"Baby Let Me Take You (In My Arms)"	The Detroit Emeralds	3:53
15.	"Early In The Morning"	Alexis Korner	3:01
16.	"The Edge"	David McCallum	2:54
17.	"Nowhere to Run"	Martha and the Vandellas	3:02
18.	"Tequila"	The Button Down Brass	3:32
19.	"When Something Is Wrong With My Baby"	Sam & Dave	3:16
20.	"Every Little Bit Hurts"	Brenda Holloway	2:57
21.	"Intermission"	Blur	2:27
22.	"Hocus Pocus (Original Single Version)"	Focus	3:18
23.	"Radar Love (1973 Single Edit)"	Golden Earring	3:44
24.	"Never, Never Gonna Give Ya Up"	Barry White	4:51
25.	"Know How"	Young MC	4:02
26.	"Brighton Rock"	Queen	5:10
27.	"Easy"	Sky Ferreira	4:28
28.	"Baby Driver"	Simon & Garfunkel	3:16
29.	"Was He Slow (Credit Roll Version)"	Kid Koala	1:47
30.	"Chase Me"	Danger Mouse featuring Run the Jewels and Big Boi	3:27
Total length:			1:43:53

Release

In August 2015, Sony Pictures Entertainment announced that the film would be released on March 17, 2017. It was briefly pushed back to August 11, 2017, before settling on June 28, 2017. It had its world premiere at South by Southwest on March 11, 2017.

Box office

As of July 3, 2017, Baby Driver has grossed $35 million in the United States and Canada and $6.9 million in other territories for a worldwide total of $42 million, against a production budget of $34 million.

In North America, Baby Driver was initially projected to gross $12–20 million from 3,150 theaters over its first five days, with a chance to go higher due to strong reviews. The film made $5.7 million on its first day (including $2.1 million from Tuesday night previews) and $3.3 million on Thursday. It made $6 million on Friday, increasing five-day projections to $27 million. It ended up opening to $21 million (a five-day total of $30 million), finishing second at the box office behind fellow newcomer Despicable Me 3 ($75.4 million). It marked the biggest American debut of Wright's career, doubling the $10.6 million opening of Scott Pilgrim vs. the World in 2010.

Critical response

On review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 97% based on 204 reviews, with an average rating of 8.1/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "Stylish, exciting, and fueled by a killer soundtrack, Baby Driver hits the road and it's gone -- proving fast-paced action movies can be smartly written without sacrificing thrills." On Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating to reviews, the film has a score of 86 out of 100, based on 52 critics, indicating "universal acclaim". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A–" on an A+ to F scale.

Peter Debruge of Variety called the film "a blast, featuring wall-to-wall music and a surfeit of inspired ideas". Manohla Dargis of The New York Times listed the film as a "NYT Critic’s Pick", writing that the film "is so good that you want it to be better and go deeper, for it to put down its guns (or at least hold them differently) and transcend its clichés and cine-quotes so it can rocket out of the genre safe box into the cosmic beyond where craft and technique transform into art". Peter Bradshaw of The Guardian gave the film five out of five possible stars, listing it as his "film of the week" and calling it an "outrageously enjoyable petrolhead heist caper".

Brian Lowry of CNN wrote that the film "is a crackling-good ride, one that organically weaves music and humor into a slick showcase for its cast. Despite a few potholes toward the end, writer-director Edgar Wright's stylish thriller consistently clicks on all cylinders". Brian Tallerico of RogerEbert.com gave the film three-and-a-half out of four possible stars, and called it "fluid and jaw-dropping—the kind of thing you want to see immediately again after it’s over to catch all the things you missed". Terri White of Empire gave the film five out of five possible stars, calling it an "awe-inspiring piece of filmmaking" and "one of the most utterly original films in years".

External links

• Official website
• Baby Driver at IMDb
• Baby Driver at Box Office Mojo
• Baby Driver at Metacritic
• Baby Driver at Rotten Tomatoes