‘Baby Driver’ is a fast and furious heist caper directed by Edgar Wright (Shaun of the Dead/Hot Fuzz). It never loses momentum or humour despite the heightened tension. The first get-away sequence is a breath-taking gem of action and choreography with ‘Baby’ (Ansel Elgort) driving Darling (Eiza González Reyna), Buddy (Jon Hamm) and Griff (Jon Bernthal) away from their bank robbery. This heart-in-mouth sequence is likely to become included in the legends of car-chases.
González plays Monica 'Darling', Buddy’s essential other-half. They have a Bonnie & Clyde dynamic: -“We are one together, I’m yours and you’re mine. I’d die and kill for you.” This duo provides a powerful presence laced with sexual tension. Buddy is totally obsessed with her so that, although Eiza González is not on screen a great deal of the time, she is key to the action storyline in the second half of the movie.
González is stunningly beautiful but there is plenty of character there, which comes through in her strong screen presence. Originally from Caborca, Sonora, Mexico, Gonzalez (28) made her name in Mexican telenovela 'Lola… Érase una vez (2007-2008), 'Lola…Once upon a time'. After which she then landed a recurring role in Robert Rodriguez’s TV remake of his own 1996 horror movie: - “From Dusk till Dawn”, where she shared the name Santico Pandemonium with the vampiress that Salma Hayek played in the movie. Her mother is Glenda Reyna, the former Mexican model.
Losing her father to a motorcycle accident at the young age of twelve, González says that this event has been the biggest influence on her life and career. She attended a bi-lingual school in Mexico and later completed a three- ear drama course at the Televisa School of Acting (Centro de Educación Artística), and was at the tender age of 16 when she embarked on her career in 2007 in the very successful telenovela : ‘Lola…Once upon a time’ playing the role of Dolores ‘Lola’ Valente. Her talents no not end there, following this successful debut in ‘Lola’, González was signed to Televisa and recorded her own album as a solo artist in 2008.
True to form, it is in 'Baby Driver' that Gonzalez shows that she's clearly not your typical ‘arm candy’. She is feisty, holding her own with plenty of style in the testosterone-overflowing macho world of these heists. She is a tough cookie and belying her beauty, proves she can be just as ruthless, as she told Latinolife :
“When we started shooting, none of the bubble-gum or the lollipops were in the script. I thought it was a key thing for her to have. I wanted to give her this feminine energy. I thought it was important for her to be chewing gum and shooting guns. At the end of the day, she’s a bank robber. She’s using her primal instincts. It was really fun to engage in that feeling.”
The actors did a number of their own stunts. González appreciated the need to give a sense of authenticity, understanding it makes it believable and ads power to the action sequences. This decision definitely added a tangible feel to all the stunts and we really feel that we are in the car with Baby and the choreography of the sequences are thrilling and beautifully shot.
Baby Driver has an impressive cast, Kevin Spacey as Doc, the ruthless boss, Jamie Foxx as Bats, Eiza Gonzales. Jon Bernthal, plus some well-rounded support actors like CJ Jones as Joseph, Baby’s deaf foster father. Jamie Foxx’s Bats adds huge tension as he wanders about with a massive chip on his shoulder edgy and dangerous, ready to take on anybody with extreme volatility, creating huge tension within the group itself.
The storyline has the beautiful Ansel Elgort playing the title character, “Baby”. Baby has been coerced into driving the getaway car for a deadly Atlanta crime boss, Doc, played by Kevin Spacey. This was due to an unwise juvenile robbery spree that involved the Doc’s car, but it meant the Doc spotted his special talent and gets him to pay off his debt by driving for them. The story starts when Baby has almost paid off this debt and looks forward to regaining his freedom. It is an ambiguous freedom. Baby falls for a young waitress Debora (Lily James) and dreams of escaping from the whole dangerous scene with her.
Doc is careful to alternate heist teams but always relies on Baby’s staggering driving skills, the fact that he is the one constant and never speaks, listening all the time to recordings on his earphones, unnerves the other members, in particular Jamie Foxx.
The sound track is wonderful and we hear what Baby hears most of the time, to full effect. He cleverly uses snippets of recorded conversation to spin as collages into a rap effect music that he meticulously uses to keep himself on track. All the music is key and an essential rhythm is produced so that the music and the action are tied together like a dance duo. The huge crew of Special (Double Negative DNEG) and Visual Effects and Stunts are made clear by the massive list of credits, the same goes for the Make-up, Sound and Camera teams.
