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****
Dir: Edgar Wright (15, 112 mins)
Edgar Wright infuses this formulaic tale of a driver doing one last job for his crooked boss with enough verve, fun and high octane action for it to sail past its inherent cliches and prove a burn-rubber treat. Ansel Elgort plays Baby, a taciturn getaway driver who has a songlist for every job, taken under the wing of Kevin Spacey’s Doc, after the death of his parents. Baby always drives for the many robberies Doc masterminds, but now he has one job left before his debt to Doc is paid. During this time he meets a charming waitress, played by Lily James, and the pair fall in love; inevitably, Doc needs him back for another job. He is the wheel man for John Hamm’s excellently villainous Buddy and Jamie Foxx’s unhinged Bats. Naturally, matters get out of hand, the job turns bad and Elgort and James are soon on the run for their lives. Infectiously kinetic, writer/director Wright, without regular film mates Simon Pegg and Nick Frost, delivers in a pop culture-referencing car-chase love story with a pounding soundtrack. In a blockbuster summer full of sequels and known entities, it’s great to see a franchise-free idea executed with Wright’s trademark panache. Pedal to the metal!
Opens June 28
