Babel

Pros: Faithful retelling of a Bible story, with a fine ensemble
Cons: Some story elements were unnecessary

One series of events, no matter how minor they may seem, can have ramifications all over the world. In Babel, people in four countries find themselves connected in ways they may never realize. In Morocco, a farmer named Abdullah (Mustapha Rachidi) ...

Pros: Artistically stunning, great writing, complex, strong acting.
Cons: A few political statements.

I finally watched Babel last night. I enjoyed the movie but there were some shortcomings as well. Babel has some beautiful camera angles, excellent writing, deep themes, inter-woven plot and superb acting. However, the movie sometimes ...

Pros: Acting is good, cinematography is good.
Cons: The story failed to connect with me on an emotional level.

I guess I am in the minority here, but I found this well directed trilogy of interwoven stories to be babble, not babel. I am sorry to say but I found this movie to be extremely boring, and not terribly effective in delivering its message. By the way, ...

Pros: engrossing, compelling, spectacular
Cons: too smart for the average viewer

"And they said, Go to, let us build us a city and a tower, whose top may reach unto heaven .... "And the LORD said, Behold, the people is one, and they have all one language .... and now nothing will be restrained from them, which they have ...

Pros: Story in general, acting, particularly with regards to the children
Cons: One of the storylines seems tacked on for political reasons

Babel is a theme based movie rather than one driven by plot. It has several plotlines that intersect in very tangential ways. The question is whether these themes work. There is the Susan (Kate Blanchett) and Richard (Brad Pitt) storyline: ...

Pros: Emotional and painful, heart rending scenes.
Cons: Weak plot, a general waste of time.

Babel is a Mixed Up Mess. By James Zaworski Ok, maybe it’s just me, but I went to see Babel this afternoon to kind of get away from things and get lost in a film at the cinema. I couldn’t get into this movie. The draw of seeing Brad Pitt and ...

Pros: Inarritu's Direction, Arriaga's Script, Themes, Locations, Cinematography, Editing, Music, & Cast.
Cons: None.

Following the success of 2003's 21 Grams, Mexican director Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu was hailed as one of cinema's most creative and original film directors. Often helped by screenwriter Guillermo Arriaga, they were one of the great ...

Pros: Well written story; well acted; timely.
Cons: None

I am a student of the unintended consequence, which means that I also fancy myself a critical thinker. A critical thinker weighs, or at least tries to weigh the (unintended) consequences of almost every action, or at least those that might involve ...

Pros: The movie had a glimmer of potential.
Cons: Unpolished look and feel to the movie.

Think back to the time when you learned about the Tower of Babel. It might have been in your Catholic school classroom or it might have been in your CCD classes but most people learned about the Tower of Babel at a reasonably young age. If religion did ...

Pros: Sensational directing, screenplay, acting, photography; challenging and heartbreaking
Cons: May be too ambitious for its own good; fractured narrative may lose some

Without film makers like Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, contemporary cinema would be ridiculously bland. Director of the electrifying "Amores Perros" and the masterpiece "21 Grams," this Mexican maverick chucks convention like it was screen anathema, ...

Pros: Good performances by all, some familiar, some not, in a highly unusual screenplay.
Cons: Painfully slow-----

The wildly popular movie "Crash" tells a story of several different ethnic groups in Los Angeles. The story unfolds in nonlinear fragments of seemingly unrelated events. It is not until near the end of the movie that we learn of the connections between ...

Pros: Some interesting photography?
Cons: Stilted and overdone

Babel provides yet another example of why it pays to be skeptical about Hollywood movies that critics proclaim to be important. Like a Robet Altman film, say, or Crash, Babel weaves several different story lines together, gradually ...

Pros: A terrific performance by Brad Pitt
Cons: A bit heavy handed.

In my opinion, Babel is one of the most engrossing and or intoxicating films of the year. I found myself glued to every frame, I cared about the outcome of each individual character. There is a moment in this film--- The housekeeper for an ...

Pros: engaging story, camerawork, acting, locations
Cons: 3 disjoint stories, general plot issues, predictable

I was lucky enough to catch a "special advance screening" of Babel so I'll share my observations. The film was billed as a series of interconnected dramas. I was expecting something like "Changing Lanes" where characters drift in and out of a ...

Pros: Very well directed. Can be powerful.
Cons: Little character development. Sketchy acting.

Bobby and Jane are in love, but Jane gets hit by a car and dies. Rick has a very fulfillling life. Mandy has a very unfulfilling life. Rick's life stops being fulfilling when he hits Jane with the car. Mandy's life becomes fulfilling when she prevents ...