BABY DRIVER Review  – Best Movie of the Summer

DESPICABLE ME 3 Review – Minions: What’s Not to Love?

by Lisa Johnson Mandell

BABY DRIVER Review — Best ride of the season!

I dare anyone over 40 not to start singing…

“My daddy was the family bassman
My mamma was an engineer
And I was born one dark gray morn
With music coming in my ears
In my ears…”

…whenever you hear the title of this film. Let me tell you, the film is just as fun, harmonious and right noted as the Simon and Garfunkel classic.

The story revolves around a getaway driver called (what else?) “Baby” (Ansel Elgort of The Fault in Our Stars and the Divergent series). He’s been coerced into driving for heists masterminded by “Doc” (Kevin Spacey), who hires different criminals for each heist, including crazy baddies played by Jamie Foxx, Jon Hamm and Jon Bernthal.

Baby scores the heists and drowns out his tinnitus with his own personal, outrageously hip sound track, played via iPods with Ear Pods. Things get complicated when he meets a charming waitress (Lily James) who wants nothing more than to drive off into the sunset, and that sounds pretty fine to Baby.

Of course I’m sold the second you say Kevin Spacey and Jon Hamm, but infinitely talented writer/director Edgar Wright has adroitly written a colorful, compelling and sometimes comedic script that grabs you from the very beginning and carries you on tenterhooks right through to the end, when you finally get to hear the title song played to complete satisfaction.

Wright, in case you don’t know, is responsible for the outrageously funny Simon Pegg three-pack made up of Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz and The World’s End, as well as sleeper hit Scott Pilgrim vs. the World. Although Baby Driver is much more of a thriller than a comedy, Wright proves he’s insanely skilled in both genres.

Now I consider Wonder Woman to be a spring film, leaving Baby Driver my undisputed favorite film of the summer. Scoot down the road to the theater and find out how it’s engines feel. You won’t regret it.

Rated R

1 Hour 53 Minutes

DESPICABLE ME 3 Review — What’s not to love?

Steve Carell as Gru, Kristen Wiig as Gru’s new bride and fellow agent Lucy, the three adorable orphans, plus Minions. How can they miss? Short answer, they can’t. It is equal parts adorable, amusing and delightful. Just as much fun for the kids as it is for the adults who take them. And that’s all you need to know.

Rated PG

1 Hour 53 Minutes

Get times and tickets at Fandango.com

BABY DRIVER Review  – Best Movie of the Summer

DESPICABLE ME 3 Review – Minions: What’s Not to Love?

by Lisa Johnson Mandell