Baby (Ansel Elgort) plugs into his tunes. Wilson Webb / Sony / TriStar Pictures via AP
Baby (Ansel Elgort) plugs into his tunes. Wilson Webb / Sony / TriStar Pictures via AP
Baby (Ansel Elgort) plugs into his tunes. Wilson Webb / Sony / TriStar Pictures via AP
Baby (Ansel Elgort) plugs into his tunes. Wilson Webb / Sony / TriStar Pictures via AP

Film review: Baby Driver is a cool ride with a credible soundtrack, but the journey lasts slightly too long


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Baby Driver

Director: Edgar Wright

Starring: Ansel Elgort, Kevin Spacey, Jamie Foxx, Lily James

Three and a half stars

Ansel Elgort’s character Baby lives his life through music – it’s his alarm clock, his metronome, his daily diary and his way of drowning out the tinnitus he ­developed following the car crash in which he lost both his parents as a child – rarely a shot of Baby passes without headphones in his ears.

Baby is also the best driver out there – it seems he turned to some degree of delinquency following his parent’s death, and during his spell of stealing and drag-racing cars, he made one very bad decision: he stole crime lord Doc’s (Kevin Spacey) Mercedes along with its very valuable and nefarious cargo.

Hence, at the start of the film, we meet Baby, Atlanta's fastest indentured labourer, forced to serve as a getaway driver for Doc's many teams of bank robbers until he has paid off his debt.

Edgar Wright may well have made the year's coolest film with Baby Driver – heist movies always garner street-cred points, from The Italian Job to Reservoir Dogs, and with a lovingly curated soundtrack, Wright is moving into high-score territory.

The music is so central to the movie that at times it resembles a ballet, with every movement, gun shot or handbrake turn taking place on the beat of yet another super-fresh track in ­Baby’s ears.

One quirky gag amusingly sees Baby, following a brief disagreement between two of his fellow hoods as they are about to disembark the car for another heist, insist on restarting The Damned on his iPod before they set off, to get things back in order.

Unfortunately for Baby, although at the start of the movie, the metaphorical internal band that governs his existence is playing like a slickly oiled machine, and the heists go to plan as smoothly as an on-form ­Ginger Baker, as things progress, they go a little more Ringo Starr and start to lose their rhythm. His cohorts become increasingly unhinged, with Jamie Foxx’s psychotic Bats a particular high point for the audience, but a definite low point for Baby.

To complicate matters further, his ailing, deaf foster father Joe isn't getting any younger, and Baby has fallen in love with Debora (Lily James), a total sweetheart who shares his love of music – part of the initial appeal for her is that she could never run out of songs featuring the word "baby" to sing to him. But she is in constant danger of being unwittingly dragged into his criminal other life.

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The movie is a guaranteed crowd-pleaser – it ticks boxes that should appeal to almost every audience ­demographic: tragedy, comedy, romance, ­action, fast cars, violence, ­musical credibility and an impressive cast. If there's one criticism, it is that Wright possibly drags things on a little too long.

With a slightly more ruthless approach in the cutting room, this would be a solid four-stars, but by the last 20 minutes or so, as we lurch from one more not-quite-final car chase/shoot out/pile up to another, the film starts running on fumes.

In terms of whether or not Baby and Debora will successfully escape the assorted police and gangsters that want to scupper their plans to drive across the United States with the stereo blasting in "a car we can't afford", it's difficult not to ask: "Are we there yet?"

Baby Driver is in cinemas from July 20

LILO & STITCH

Starring: Sydney Elizebeth Agudong, Maia Kealoha, Chris Sanders

Director: Dean Fleischer Camp

Rating: 4.5/5

Key facilities
  • Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
  • Premier League-standard football pitch
  • 400m Olympic running track
  • NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
  • 600-seat auditorium
  • Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
  • An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
  • Specialist robotics and science laboratories
  • AR and VR-enabled learning centres
  • Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
THE SIXTH SENSE

Starring: Bruce Willis, Toni Collette, Hayley Joel Osment

Director: M. Night Shyamalan

Rating: 5/5

THE SPECS

Aston Martin Rapide AMR

Engine: 6.0-litre V12

Transmission: Touchtronic III eight-speed automatic

Power: 595bhp

Torque: 630Nm

Price: Dh999,563

Jetour T1 specs

Engine: 2-litre turbocharged

Power: 254hp

Torque: 390Nm

Price: From Dh126,000

Available: Now

Top goalscorers in Europe

34 goals - Robert Lewandowski (68 points)

34 - Ciro Immobile (68)

31 - Cristiano Ronaldo (62)

28 - Timo Werner (56)

25 - Lionel Messi (50)

*29 - Erling Haaland (50)

23 - Romelu Lukaku (46)

23 - Jamie Vardy (46)

*NOTE: Haaland's goals for Salzburg count for 1.5 points per goal. Goals for Dortmund count for two points per goal.

Test

Director: S Sashikanth

Cast: Nayanthara, Siddharth, Meera Jasmine, R Madhavan

Star rating: 2/5

Green ambitions
  • Trees: 1,500 to be planted, replacing 300 felled ones, with veteran oaks protected
  • Lake: Brown's centrepiece to be cleaned of silt that makes it as shallow as 2.5cm
  • Biodiversity: Bat cave to be added and habitats designed for kingfishers and little grebes
  • Flood risk: Longer grass, deeper lake, restored ponds and absorbent paths all meant to siphon off water 
The specs: Fenyr SuperSport

Price, base: Dh5.1 million

Engine: 3.8-litre twin-turbo flat-six

Transmission: Seven-speed automatic

Power: 800hp @ 7,100pm

Torque: 980Nm @ 4,000rpm

Fuel economy, combined: 13.5L / 100km

While you're here
Credit Score explained

What is a credit score?

In the UAE your credit score is a number generated by the Al Etihad Credit Bureau (AECB), which represents your credit worthiness – in other words, your risk of defaulting on any debt repayments. In this country, the number is between 300 and 900. A low score indicates a higher risk of default, while a high score indicates you are a lower risk.

Why is it important?

Financial institutions will use it to decide whether or not you are a credit risk. Those with better scores may also receive preferential interest rates or terms on products such as loans, credit cards and mortgages.

How is it calculated?

The AECB collects information on your payment behaviour from banks as well as utilitiy and telecoms providers.

How can I improve my score?

By paying your bills on time and not missing any repayments, particularly your loan, credit card and mortgage payments. It is also wise to limit the number of credit card and loan applications you make and to reduce your outstanding balances.

How do I know if my score is low or high?

By checking it. Visit one of AECB’s Customer Happiness Centres with an original and valid Emirates ID, passport copy and valid email address. Liv. customers can also access the score directly from the banking app.

How much does it cost?

A credit report costs Dh100 while a report with the score included costs Dh150. Those only wanting the credit score pay Dh60. VAT is payable on top.

Specs

Engine: Duel electric motors
Power: 659hp
Torque: 1075Nm
On sale: Available for pre-order now
Price: On request

Dubai World Cup nominations

UAE: Thunder Snow/Saeed bin Suroor (trainer), North America/Satish Seemar, Drafted/Doug Watson, New Trails/Ahmad bin Harmash, Capezzano, Gronkowski, Axelrod, all trained by Salem bin Ghadayer

USA: Seeking The Soul/Dallas Stewart, Imperial Hunt/Luis Carvajal Jr, Audible/Todd Pletcher, Roy H/Peter Miller, Yoshida/William Mott, Promises Fulfilled/Dale Romans, Gunnevera/Antonio Sano, XY Jet/Jorge Navarro, Pavel/Doug O’Neill, Switzerland/Steve Asmussen.

Japan: Matera Sky/Hideyuki Mori, KT Brace/Haruki Sugiyama. Bahrain: Nine Below Zero/Fawzi Nass. Ireland: Tato Key/David Marnane. Hong Kong: Fight Hero/Me Tsui. South Korea: Dolkong/Simon Foster.

Baby Driver

Director: Edgar Wright

Starring: Ansel Elgort, Kevin Spacey, Jamie Foxx, Lily James

Three and a half stars