Freeze Frame: “Baby Driver,” “Despicable Me 3,” “The Beguiled,” “The Hero”

Decadent, violent, profane…and wildly entertaining, “Baby Driver” is a zippy heist film fueled by a kinetic soundtrack that should appeal to both Baby Boomers and Millennials. Ansel Elgort plays a skilled getaway driver who uses music to help him concentrate and overcome tinnitus. Things get sticky when he crosses his fellow thieves, played by Kevin Spacey, Jon Hamm and Jamie Foxx. In the case of “Baby Driver,” style provides a high-octane boost over substance.

 

Fans of Gru and The Minions should enjoy “Despicable Me 3,” which is actually the fourth installment in the franchise. Gru meets his long lost twin brother Dru and they decide to commit one last dastardly crime. While not quite up to the level of the previous films, it’s still a clever and likable animated farce.

 

Director Sophia Coppola brings a very restrained tone to her remake of the old Clint Eastwood Civil War drama, “The Beguiled.” Coin Farrell plays a wounded Union deserter who is cared for by Nicole Kidman at her small Southern girls boarding school. Jealousy and sexual tension are the result. It’s modestly effective, but perhaps a bit too low key for its own good.

 

Veteran cowboy actor Sam Elliott plays a veteran cowboy actor in “The Hero,” a character study about a fading Hollywood star facing old age, disease and a May-December romance. Elliott is perfectly cast and his strong performance is the main attraction in this deliberately paced drama.

 

Also opening this week, Will Ferrell and Amy Poehler star in the comedy “The House” about a couple who open a gambling hall in their home. It was hidden from critics, which is generally a bad sign. “2:22” is a sci-fi thriller about a man who experiences a bizarre event every day at 2:22pm.


Share This Episode