Babel

Starring: Brad Pitt, Cate Blanchett, Mohamed Akhzam, Peter Wright, Rinko Kikuchi, Elle Fanning, Gael Garcia Bernal, Michael Pena
Directed by: Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu
Rating: R
Genre: Drama, Thriller
2006

Times Seen:
Tim: 1

Summary: A tourist (Brad Pitt) in Morocco becomes panicked when his wife (Cate Blanchett) is mysteriously shot. A series of stories about a diverse group of people are all told, each somehow connected to the others.

Review:

Tim: I was surprised as I sat down to watch Babel. From the previews, I knew this movie as "that Brad Pitt and Cate Blanchett movie where she gets shot." However, I was shocked to learn that this is only a small part of the overall film, and to be frank, Pitt and Blanchett's scenes are among the slowest and most boring of the film. The other stories we get are far more fascinating. In the end, the Pitt-Blanchett scenes do serve an important purpose- to tie everyone else's stories together. However, the film's real strengths- and best scenes- do not involve these two stars.

Brad Pitt and Cate Blanchett both give very good performances. They are both such terrific actors, and they operate well in their scenes together. The film's best performance has to go to Rinko Kikuchi. She plays a Japanese deaf-mute dealing with the suicide of her mother. Her performance is astounding. The scenes involving her are all fascinating, especially because it gives us a glimpse into a person with a disability in another culture. These scenes were among my favorite of the film. Adriana Barraza is likewise quite good. Her scenes tell the interesting but often overlooked story of immigration in the United States, and how these immigrants live, the challenges they face, and more.

I also liked the scenes involving the Moroccan farmer and his two sons. Each of these stories tells a small piece of a much larger puzzle. When taken as a whole, we witness a very good movie about culture, communication, violence, and redemption. This is quite an achievement. Although the film is a bit on the long side (143 minutes), it seldom feels that long. The jumping from scene to scene across the world helps in that process.

Babel is a good movie, but it has difficulty shaking the multiple-storylines-converge-together cliche that is becoming reality in Hollywood. So many films that attempted this narrative structure that it is almost becoming silly. That is too bad, because Babel represents the zenith of what that storytelling device can achieve when done right. Although the film feels like it sugarcoats the harsh reality of life a bit, it is still an achievement.



Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating: 7.5



If You Enjoyed This Movie, We Recommend: Magnolia, 21 Grams, A Mighty Heart, The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford