| Overall Grade: |
B- |
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| Story: |
A- |
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| Acting: |
B+ |
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| Direction: |
B+ |
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| Visuals: |
A- |
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When the parts are greater than the sum
by Jason (movies profile)
Dec 28, 2007
21
of
27 people found this review helpful
It is undeniable that this movie has a very intriguing story, heartfelt acting, sharp direction, and is beautifully shot. But history says that this does not always lead to a great movie.
Babel is perhaps the perfect example of how great parts do not always add up to a great result. Do not be mistaken; this movie has many compelling features to it, but yet, falls short as the viewer will likely be left unsatisfied, and not because he wants more out of it, but rather, because he wishes that he had gotten more out of it when he was still sitting.
The story starts out in Morocco as a weapon changes hands from a tour guide to a typical family man who says that he simply needs the gun to fend off jackals from feeding on his livestock. The mistake that this man makes, however, is to give this gun to his two sons and entrust them with the task of protecting his goats. As the two brothers compete with one another to see who shoots better until they both begin aiming at a tour bus traveling down the road. As the shot is fired, nothing appears to happen, until about a minute later, the bus stops to the sounds of distress.
That single event sets off a chain of four different stories from very different places that are all interconnected very deeply. The gun that delivered the shot was a gift from a wealthy Japanese man, whose mute-deaf daughter is the subject of one story. The woman shot in the tour bus who, along with her husband (Cate Blanchett and Brad Pitt), make up the second story, has two children in San Diego being taken care of by an illegal Mexican immigrant, the subject of the third story. The fourth story is, of course, the shooter and his family, who have now become suspects to terrorism by both the American and Moroccan government.
The way that the four stories are linked is very remarkable, especially considering that all four stories involve completely different places in the world and perhaps more importantly, completely different cultures and races. That is perhaps the only moral of the story, but because this becomes apparent within 30 minutes of the start of the movie, the viewer is left to wait the remaining two hours for some huge twist. It never arrives. The lack of a powerful climax really hurts this movie in ways that cannot be expressed clearly without spoiling the movie any more.
Here's the bottom line. This movie weaves four stories together in a very compelling way, but because of its lack of a true climax, it could have been much more. |
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