Baby Driver

I've only seen "Baby Driver" once. I intend to see it in theaters at least one more time while I still have the chance, because the movie is as much an audio journey as it is a visual journey that I really feel like I need the big sound to appreciate it. In the mean time, I've been rewatching the trailer a shit ton, cause seriously, this movie is good and I want to relive it as much as possible.

I will admit this next part was pointed out to me by my (first time and new, but hopefully not last) movie partner. In "Baby Driver," Baby wears sunglasses and they're a metaphor about his attempts to shield himself from the violence that surrounds him in his pursuit of crime. About halfway through the movie one of the main antagonists, Bats, slaps the glasses off of Baby's face. Comically, Baby just fishes out another pair of glasses and puts them on. Fast forward quite a few scenes where a bunch of shit goes down and Baby is being dragged into the dark reality of the life that he is leading. The transition is slow at first, and during this time, Baby is still a bit innocent. His sunglasses are half broken, with one lens in and one lens missing and he still has some innocence to him. By the time his sunglasses are completely missing though? He's completely immersed in the world of sin he's found himself in and there's nothing there to shield him from it.

Great symbolism. If I have to admit, I probably wouldn't have caught it until my fourth or fifth viewing (if ever).

Drive

Have I ever stated how much I love this movie? I watched it for the first time in a few years (for movies I really like, I like to take long breathers in between so it's like I'm watching them for the first time again). My only quibble is that there are two scenes of intense gore that I think it could have done without, but other than that, this movie is amazing. All of the actors are on point. The composition on the majority of the shots are amazing. The slow build up of pace, the characters acting with clear and deliberate motivation, the creative chase scenes. This is a good, good movie. After seeing Baby Driver and having the sunglasses metaphor pointed out to me, I noticed something in Drive that I didn't notice before. Here goes.

The Driver's scorpion logoed, white sports jacket. Between you and me, I think sports jackets are about as far from macho as you can get. When I think of manly jackets, I think of leather, denim, western dusters, etc. Now that I think about it, I think the sports jacket fits perfectly. Here's why.

The Driver is pretty quiet. He doesn't say a lot, but he doesn't come across as a tough man with no name character who doesn't say much (say Eastwood in Fistful of Dollars), but more like a guy with some edge but is still a bit soft cause he's a guy who hasn't really developed it yet. The jacket fits him perfectly. The scorpion logo? Bit of edge. Sports jacket? Stylish but not really edgy and it doesn't do much to protect you from the elements, let alone anything else. It's a good fit for the character. Much like sunglasses on a kid getaway driver from another film.

Here's the new thing I noticed. The first time we see him kill a man, he's wearing that jacket. Again with his second. The more The Driver tries to resolve the dilemma he's in, the more violent he becomes. The more violent he becomes, the more filthy his jacket gets. By the end of the movie, it is caked in blood and filth and sin and while it's the same jacket, it's something completely different. Likewise, The Driver, while still the same guy, is definitely not the person we saw in the beginning.

Clothing as metaphor. Film makers are smart.