The movie itself did not move me, but rather the scores of praise that it received. Great reviews, everyone and their mother gave it love. Brad Pitt and Cate Blanchett... It must be good, right? Wrong!
I have watched quite a few movies in my day, probably too many, and to give a quick idea of how I feel about this one... It was one of the worst movies I have ever seen. Seriously. The title says it best... Babel: a confused noise, typically that made by a number of voices. Which is exactly what it was, a confused noise.
During the movie I had asked my fiance on more than one occasion to give me the time. My thinking was that maybe we could sneak out and catch the beginning of something starting later. I missed the mark by about 15 minutes and was forced to sit through 2 1/2 hours of what only could be described as a waking coma.
In watching the previews, Bradd Pitt seems like the main character, as you are taken into a Middle Eastern world where his wife gets shot. Sounds like something that would be engaging. In 2 1/2 hours, I think Brad Pitt was on the screen for about 8 minutes. Cate Blanchett's extent... she was bitchy in the beginning, (for about 2 minutes) gets shot, and pees in a bucket. Of course Pitt's and Blanchett's preformances were great, but very much under utilized. The story line followed too many paths, and spent far too much time on characters that none of us were there to see, or spend my money on.
The story follows 4 families. A Morrocan family, who purchased a gun for 500 bucks and a goat; A Japanese deaf-mute girl whose mother had committed suicide, Brad & Cate in Morroco, and then the Illegal Immigrant 'nanny' who is watching their 2 kids back in the states.
The most compelling of the stories is of course Brad's... while on a tour bus, his wife is shot, and... The family that bought the rifle for a goat, while out tending to the goats, the youngest son ends up shooting at Brad's tour bus. We know what happens there.
Later in the film, after going through a very long and drawn out story of the Japanese deaf girl, we find out that her father had given the gun to a Morrocan man, while on a hunting trip, as a gift.
Poor Brad's wife has been shot, and the immigrant back in the states has to go to her son's wedding back in Mexico. Not being able to find anyone to watch Brad's kids, she decides to take them with her to the land of the tortilla. One thing leads to another, and while coming back to the States, her nephew, who is driving, decides to adios the Border Guards and make a run for it. After losing the cops, he ditches his aunt, the 'nanny' and Brad's kids in the middle of the desert.
I know, sounds a bit 'all over the place'...imagine watching it for, once again, 2 1/2 hours.
If the story, or movie had stayed on Pitt's story, and the family in Morroco, they would have had something. However the drawn out stories of the other's who were very losely involved, left me, as a viewer, constantly waiting for something that never came. Well, except for my coma.
Final take on this one...
If you absolutely have to waste that 20 bucks that is burning a whole in your pocket, and you have exhausted all other movie possibilities, and that includes G rated flicks... Then, be my guest. Bring some no-doze, and possibly a book and a flashlight.
For single men... DO NOT BRING A DATE! She will probably just want to go home and go to bed... and your 'gift of gab' is not good enough to wake her from the coma.
D+ (only b/c the deaf-mute Japanese girl showed her goodies a couple of times... without it... D-)
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