HEFE'S REVIEW OF:
BABEL (2006)

OPENING THOUGHTS

    What a difference one letter can make huh? I mean if you take off the letter "L" from the title you wind up with a movie about a bunch of Scottish people with a talking pig, who interestingly enough does not have a Scottish accent himself. But since it does have an "L" I watched a movie about 3 different stories in 3 different places, in 3 different languages... and none of them have a Scottish accent.

ACTING

    BRAD PITT was excellent in this movie, and I know I have said it before but I think Pitt is one of the best actors of today. He can do drama and he can also do comedy, but in a sort of Carey Grant sort of way, where it is more charming then in your face. I know it sounds like I am gay for him, but damn it, maybe I am, and that is none of your damn business fancy pants!
    GAEL GARCIA BERNAL was so much better in this movie then he was in The Science Of Sleep. Since Sleep was the only other movie I had seen of his I was convinced that this guy was not a very good actor. However he was actually quite good in this movie and was one of my favorite characters.
    THE SUPPORTING CAST was all excellent as well, especially Adriana Barraza and Rinko Kikuchi who ironically enough were not listed on the back of the box, but earned the only acting nominations in the Academy Awards. Bazarra is an actress I am not familiar with but she really played her character to the max. It was truly a mesmerizing performance that kept me captivated from beginning to end. Rink Kikuchi played a blind girl who liked to rub her hairy monster on anything that would move. I really could not identify with her character, but I guess you have to respect an actress who shows her bush in a movie, that is pretty much unheard of in movies of today. Also Dakota Fanning's little sister was in this movie as well, and she tried to get on the bush parade as well, but horrifyingly she was bald as the day is long down there. Just a heads up.

DIRECTION AND SCRIPT

    ALEJANDRO GONZALEZ INARRITU directed this movie quite well in my opinion. He managed to balance three different stories without seeming to favor one more then the other, and able to keep the audience understanding what was going on in all three stories. Something I think Clint Eastwood failed at with only two stories on in my other review this week, Flags Of Our Fathers.
    GUILLERMO ARRIAGA wrote the script and while each of the stories were interesting, I think they were tied together rather weakly. I know this is they type of story that the Academy Award judges shit their pants over, but I really think this has been done better. Hell Crash had a similar theme about everyone being different but all being the same, and how dangerous pre-judging people can be, but I think Crash did it better. Overall I just didn't see anything super engrossing about the script and I felt that it was the weakest part of the movie.

THE VERDICT

    The acting is right on, the direction is spot on, and the screenplay is a hard on. While there are things that are enjoyable and a lot of vagina hair can be seen, the screenplay dragged this movie down for me. It seemed like the stories dragged on too long and did not tie together well enough, and in the end I am glad The Departed beat this movie out for Best Picture. On a side note I really hope a lot of people confuse this movie with Babe, I know that probably won't happen but it would really make me happy if some fuck went and rented this and sat down and was really upset after watching all 93 minutes of this movie and not seeing a talking pig.
 
 

RATING: C +

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