"baby driver"

Sony Pictures 

Anthony Bourdain recently penned a scathing critique of Edgar Wright's latest feature, "Baby Driver," simply tweeting out the words: "Fuck BABY DRIVER." In the wake of his cryptic message, a few cinema-obsessed sycophants immediately came to Wright's defense, arguing what Bourdain actually meant to write was, "fuck, baby driver." But other less credulous pragmatists, such as film director Ava DuVernay, took the famous chef to task over the July 4th holiday, chiding "You don't have to like it [but]... Critique doesn't have to be cruel." Her frustration with Bourdain's online aspersions are most likely a byproduct of "Baby Driver's" exception to the 2017 summer rule — an action-musical with a diverse, multi-ethnic cast (neither a reboot, sequel, or franchise release), which defied industry expectations and managed to bring in a domestic haul of roughly $75 million on a $35M budget. Though, apart from the cacophony of car chases, soundtrack banging cuts, and elaborate ads for Subaru and Starbucks, I can't help but speculate over what Bourdain was hinting at with his pithy, three word takedown. Was he tweeting "Fuck BABY DRIVER" for... playing into longstanding gender and racial stereotypes? Was he saying "Fuck BABY DRIVER" for a wholly misguided (and lopsided) second act? Or, was he jeering "Fuck BABY DRIVER" for its failure to live up to the praise so many have bestowed upon Wright's musical due to its unusual formula for success?  

"Baby Driver" itself is a symphonic oddity to behold, a genre picture which by its very existence impedes the prevailing wisdom that every musical require its participants to break out into song and dance. One memorable action sequence, in which Baby (the film's hero/ protagonist) and his cohorts Bats, Buddy and Darling (played by Jamie Foxx, Jon Hamm and Eiza González, respectively) prompt a shootout against Atlanta P.D.'s finest — the musical accompaniment crescendoing with accelerated friction as each bullet whizzes by the actors' eyes, ears and heads — culminates in a stylish, funny, and neo-noir punk rock cliff-hanger. Yet these jazzy, mercurial action set pieces remain hindered by the movie's questionable racial politics; Jamie Foxx in particular, the most accomplished actor of the bunch (excluding perhaps Kevin Spacey), overwhelms as a prototypical streetwise criminal offender, the role ultimately amounting to nothing more than a fly-in-the-ointment for Ansel Elgort's Baby, a lifeless presence who spends much of his time courting local waitress Debora (played by Lily James). Foxx is such an exceptional actor it's a shame his part didn't go to someone like Hamm, as reversing the character's goals and role of the main baddy would've made for a much more introspective (and combustible) outcome. And while we're on the topic of love interests, it too was a waste seeing Mexican actress Eiza González reduce her talents to a secondary chola-esque glamour girl figure — in a more just world, perhaps she could've played Baby's love interest.

Better yet, she could've played Baby.

While many major motion pictures such as "La La Land" caught flack for exhibiting an unbridled sense of heteronormative Caucasian-ness (an unfortunate label precipitated by Trump), it's easy to draw parallels between the two films; both exist in a retro-futuristic temporal era, fluctuating back and forth between time periods in order to maximize their glowing pervasion of nostalgia, unwittingly supplanting the advances in gender and racial tropes which harken back to an era when said time was easier for the white heroes, yet onerous for those of color. Then again, these directing, marketing and casting decisions were most likely already baked in well before these projects were in pre-production limbo, and I'd hate to speculate more without knowing the full story behind Wright's creative endeavors. The mere fact that he strung together a multi-racial cast is enough to applaud the writer/ director for his efforts, since the overarching desire for inclusivity is half the battle (if "Baby Driver" had utilized an all-white cast, would the rancor leveled at Wright be half what it is now?). The so-called "good guys" it seems, the men and women we stand shoulder to shoulder with, are still churning out films and TV shows which portray us (the minorities) as the villains, destined to be killed by the bullets or car accidents we so rightly deserve, while our white counterparts ride safely into the sunset. Yes, we were included this time around, but how exactly were we depicted?

The path forward shouldn't be paved with flippant "Fuck You's," but with healthy, mindful criticism. After all, lazy tweeting is for Presidents.

"BABY DRIVER" Rated R. Running time: 1 hour 52 minutes