Babel (2006)reviewed by Benn "Where's the Humanity?" Farrell
This poster film for prozac tells a series of stories in a non-linear fashion, when a married couple, played by Brad Pitt (Mr. and Mrs. Smith) and Cate Blanchett (The Aviator), on vacation in the Moroccan desert—cause that’s where you go on vacation—when the wife is shot by an unknown assailant with a long range hunting rifle. It’s tough to figure out what’s going on in this movie at first, but you catch up fairly quick. It’s a little like 1994’s “Pulp Fiction” in that regard. The picture is extremely well acted. 2006 appears to be a great year for awesome performances in otherwise suck-a** films. Pitt, Adriana Barrazza, as his character’s nanny, and Rinko Kikucki as the deaf Japanese teen desperate to ‘come of age’—if you know what I mean—were all standout actors in this work. The biggest downfall with this film is that, like “Crash,” it is seriously sad and depressing. I couldn’t get motivated to do anything for about three hours after seeing the picture. The stories within the film are pretty good, but overall, it could have been better. Director Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu used way too much footage of establishing environment, which slowed down the picture’s pace too much – at least for American audiences. The film overall could have been shaved down a bit. If this film looks at all interesting to you, you should wait until DVD. You will probably enjoy it just for the performances alone. Benn - Where's the Humanity?
“Babel” is a lot like “Crash,” except better. At least, ITS stories have an ending.