BABEL

[WiCkEDrOcKS]

Posted: 11/11/06 at 12:26pm

I saw this movie last night and honestly, it didn't live up the the hype surrounding it. The film centers around a couple going through maritial turmoil (Cate Blanchett & Brad Pitt who are both giving their best performances showing incomparable range here) who are riding on a tour bus in the deserts of Morrocco when a stray bullet from two Morroccan boys, who are playing with the rifle, pierces Blanchett in the neck. An international crisis is sparked as two other stories involving a deaf-mute Japanese girl and an illegal alien nanny are intricately tied into the film's main plot.

While director Alejandro González Iñárritu brings a strong, echoing emotional punch to the movie, it still seems lacking of something. It seems that he was so set on making the film delicately detailed and visually stunning (which it is) that he forgot the film was in fact, telling a story. In fact, the stories don't pick up until about halfway through the two-and-a-half-hour movie. Thankfully, the film features an incredible ensemble. As mentioned before, Blanchett and Pitt are both giving gut-wrenchingly real and raw performances (Pitt is a lock for an Oscar nomination this year, IMO...and Blanchett should get a nod too even though she probably won't.) Also giving wonderful performances are Gael García Bernal and Rinko Kikuchi (Kikuchi, from what I hear, is the front-runner for Best Supporting Actress at this time even though, IMO, she wasn't Oscar-worthy). Finally, giving the film's best performance is Adriana Barraza who is giving this year's most woefully underrated performance. She is phenomenal and electrifying. If it was up to me, she'd get the Best Supporting Actress Oscar right now. She was stunning.
All in all, the film struggles. Its cinematography will probably nab an Oscar (deservedly), and it will probably get a Best Picture nod which I find justifiable (while not completely successful, it is wildly ambitious and deserves to be recognized for that) yet unsettling (it's good enough for a Golden Globe Best Picture nod IMO, not an Oscar.) I left the theater wanting more. More of the fast-paced, emotionally charged scenes as the trailers seem to promote. Here, the movie's first-rate ensemble lifts the film off the ground but never quite makes it soar as it should.

GRADE: **1/2 to *** out of ****
B-

[Cruel_Sandwich]

Posted: 11/11/06 at 12:48pm

Thank you for that. I'm sorry you didn't enjoy the experience.

I'm still looking forward to this movie, though, simply because 21 Grams is ****ing brilliant.