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First and foremost, let me just say I am NOT a car chase movie type of person. Rugged manly men start racing away from equally-rugged loose-cannon police officers and I start snoozing at the wheel by the first tire screech. That said, I LOVED Baby Driver. I’ve always been a big fan of Edgar Wright’s direction (Scott Pilgrim vs The World is one of my favorite movies and the Three Flavours Cornetto Trilogy is absolutely ingenious), and he absolutely shattered my expectations with Baby Driver. It was cleverly written, from the foreshadowing in the opening scene to the way he sets up the humor. Personally, I was especially excited to see how Wright echoed his past films in his highly structured style. At one point, Baby (Ansel Elgort) flicks through TV channels in the beginning of the movie and then, throughout the entire movie, recites the television lines he originally heard, which also happened in a similar way in Shaun of the Dead. TV Clip Here
On top of the direction, the soundtrack of course was fantastic. Wright often used music to enhance action scenes by synchronizing gunshots to different beats in the song, highlighting his precise direction. Wright’s style almost outshone the actual plot (which was difficult to do, considering how interesting the plot was).
In the film, Baby, an orphaned young adult, is forced to drive a getaway car in order to pay off a past debt with Doc (Kevin Spacey), the brilliant mind behind the heists. Baby repeatedly tries to escape his life of crime, especially after falling in love with Deb (Lily James), the beautiful waitress at the diner. Which, unfortunately, brings me to my one major criticism of Baby Driver: Deb’s character is poorly developed, and the romance between her and Baby was mind-numbingly lack luster.
SPOILERS FROM HERE FORWARD
Baby and Deb, after dating for what appears to be about a month or two, decide to run away with each other to escape Baby’s life of crime (Which Deb is just somehow okay with). Baby is given good reason to up and leave his life behind. His elderly room mate he used to take care of is now in a home, he no longer has a family because both of his parents died in a car accident when he was very young, and most of all, he no longer wants to be a getaway driver because he realizes it endangers the lives of himself and others.
Deb, on the other hand, is given about as much back story as the shades Baby wears every day. Oh wait, even they had more backstory than she did. Deb has very little character development- she’s presented as pretty, kind, and a bit of a dreamer, but past that I can’t really think of any way to describe her. She’s ready to up and leave her job and (presumably) her home to run away with her boyfriend who she’s only just gotten to know for… reasons? I guess? No details about her life are given to give a bit more reason to her decisions. Because of that, she feels like more of a prop than a character. Only a few of her and Baby’s “dates” are shown in the movie, and the chemistry just isn’t present.
I once read about an interesting feminist test akin to the widely-known Bechdel Test called the “Sexy Lamp” Test (named after the Sexy Leg Lamp from A Christmas Story). Coined by Kelly Sue DeConnick, the general premise is that if a female character can be replaced by a sexy lamp and most if not all of the movie remains the same, then you might need to redraft the movie because it’s not feminist and quite frankly, not very well-written. Baby Driver fails this test with flying colors. Debora’s character has practically no bearing on the actual story, despite Debora being one of the main reasons Baby wants to run away. Debora’s decisions don’t affect the story because she doesn’t make any decisions for herself. By having absolutely no character arc whatsoever, Debora could be poster child for the Sexy Lamp test. What might bother me most, is that it seems that almost none of the Baby Driver critics actually address this. They may praise the complexity of Baby’s character, but they cannot acknowledge that unfortunately Edgar Wright does not treat his female lead with the same careful thought.
Despite this, I definitely recommend you watch Baby Driver. It’s still a wonderfully entertaining, fast-paced, brilliant movie and I’m sure I’ll end up owning the DVD. I just encourage you to think back to the Bechdel Test and the Sexy Lamp test next time you go to the theatre or rewatch a favorite movie. You may be shocked by how many movies don’t actually pass.
Thank you for reading, and please let me know your thoughts on Baby Driver and/or the Bechdel and Sexy Lamp tests. I’d love to hear what you have to say!
Kacie's Kinetoscope 
