Babel Movie Review

Babel was a well-made, plotless and meandering tale of three families, all intricately tied together in ways they can’t even see but cannot deny.

I generally like these types of movies; movies that just explore human existence in its seemingly unremarkable journeys but at closer examination reveal depth that only the introspective and self-aware can truly appreciate. Other movies like this are American Beauty, The Station Agent, Friends with Money, Sideways, 21 Grams, and Basketball Diaries. These are all movies that don't have a plot in the traditional sense, but nevertheless, I enjoyed and appreciated(though, not necessarily agreed with) them. Babel is not unlike those movies because of that familiar unguided (maybe even misguided), meandering feel.


Babel, however, as some of the other movies I just referenced, does manage to squeeze in a few liberal talking points on the way to the Oscars. Babel does a good job of disguising these talking points about American foreign policy, gun control, and illegal immigration by surrounding these points with salient and realistic stories that engage and impassion the viewer. I’ll move onto the review (click here for the review criteria.)

Legs 8/10
I can definitely see myself tuning into Babel again and again after it goes to the cable movie networks. It’s one of those movies that you can engage at any particular point and only need a minimal amount of time to get caught up on what’s happening. Aside from that, director, Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu (21 Grams) a master at crafting multi-angled storylines, does an excellent job of keeping each scene from becoming monotonous so getting sucked in at any point in the story is quite likely.

Mission 9/10
As a drama that is less plot-driven than it is human-interest, Babel is an excellent movie. It never fails to keep the viewer from becoming calloused or indifferent about the characters and at each decision-making juncture, you find yourself wondering what will happen next or if the character did the right thing. The very definition of ‘drama’ defines the tale as a tale that concentrates on the actions and speech of characters rather than on events surrounding them, as in an action film, for instance. Babel is among 2006’s best dramas, in my opinion. (That, of course is nothing as compared to the Golden Globe’s and Oscars’ endorsements of the film.)

Agenda 6/10
While Inarritu manages to keep this movie from becoming a giant soapbox upon which he can shout to the world, there are still some subtle political messaging throughout. I’ll give you some examples without spoiling too much for those of you who have yet to watch the film:
- In the film, the news media are quick to point out that an “innocent” accidental shooting of an American tourist is immediately regarded as a terrorist act by the American government. This kind of hyperbole only serves to vilify the American foreign policymakers as hateful bigots, fast to jump to conclusions.
- When a boy is frustrated at the turmoil that a new rifle brings to his family’s quiet, mountain-goat-herding lifestyle, he repeatedly bashes the rifle against a rock as if to say, “cursed gun! You’ve brought nothing but turmoil to our family’s quiet, mountain-goat-herding lifestyle! Curse you! I shatter you to a thousand pieces!” The irony of such an act is that it is clear, by the director’s own storytelling, that the gun did nothing wrong. It was the boy’s inability to make good decisions that resulted in such turmoil for the family. In true left-wing gun-controller fashion, the responsibility of the person falls by the wayside and the gun is blamed for the unnecessary bloodshed. As the famous bumper sticker reads: Gun control is being able to hit your target.
- While the Mexican nanny in the movie had only good intentions at heart and had been a model ‘citizen’ living in San Diego for over 15 years, the treatment she received from unforgiving and unreasonable border patrol agents served only to pull our heartstrings toward compassion for the millions of illegals living in America today. Sure, this nanny seemed harmless enough. Her drunken, numbskull nephew was the cause of all her troubles. But you can’t escape the fact that she has been illegal for so many years. Had she been admitted into the States through proper channels, then none of the hardships would have taken place.

All in all, if you turn a blind eye to the political messaging, you can still enjoy the movie. But as I said, the messaging, while detectable by someone who is sensitive to it (like me), is pretty subtle and doesn’t appear preachy. Just sneaky.

Script 8/10
Frankly, I can’t really remember much of the dialogue in this film. I think more than half of it was subtitled and therefore difficult to judge. The story is pretty flawless in that there were no holes that I noticed and the way we bounced around on an achronistic timeline was tantalizing. The dialogue that did happen in English didn’t seem trite and it was reminiscent of real life. Most of the English dialogue that happened (between Brad Pitt and Cate Blanchett) revolved around a tragic incident to which we are not privy until much later in the movie. I think that kind of mystery and resistance to pandering bodes well for a film like this. Most scripts are all too eager to let you in on the protagonist’s checkered past or hidden relationship to the antagonist.
Acting/Directing 9/10
All of the actors were totally convincing in their roles (except maybe Pitt) because of their relatively anonymous faces. Perhaps other audiences from around the world recognize many of the international cast, but for me, the only two faces I recognized were the two A-List American actors. This sort of shattered the real-people-in-real-situations illusion. Other than that, the pacing, the acting, the staging, the editing, and the overall vibe of the movie were all very authentic to me.

Production 8/10
The multi-national shoots; the thoroughly convincing backdrops of Tokyo skylines, Moroccan mountainsides, Mexican villages and so one and so forth only reinforced the strong acting and script. In a movie like this, where special effects are not a factor, it is easy to overlook good production, but on-location shoots like the ones that make up over 90% of this movie, good production is king.

Overall 9/10
Despite the liberal undertones, I find it hard to fault Babel. There were certain spots that seemed slow, but in retrospect, served as pacing elements to either build suspense or force introspection. There were so many little pieces that I can’t help but to notice how well it was all glued together. I would definitely recommend this film to others, so long as they’re willing to be thoughtful and vigilant while sitting through it; thoughtful about how these characters get themselves into the binds in which they are presented and why it is relevant to us; and vigilant about the liberal messaging that can very easily seep into your subconscious. It's worth a spot on your Netflix queue.