Babylon is best described as the feel-sick movie of the year. Here is a movie 188 minutes long that feels the need to shock at every turn and we’re left befuddled how something like this was allowed to be made.
I know that sounds like I’m severely bashing the movie and, to a big extent, I am. There’s so much that is provocative about this film and, yes, I dare say downright hilarious at times. This is not a film for the easily shocked.
Damien Chazelle, writer/director of Whiplash and La La Land has concocted a film that attempts to pay tribute to the Golden Era of filmmaking in the ’20s by showcasing a series of actors who are trying to hit it big in Hollywood at the twilight of silent film and the dawn of sound.
Margot Robbie stars as Nellie LaRoy, an ambitious starlet who crosses paths with Manny Torres, (Diego Calva), who dreams of being a filmmaker. Their first encounter is at a debaucherous party that plays like one part The Great Gatsby, one part The Wolf of Wall Street and a dash of Eyes Wide Shut thrown in for good measure.
Brad Pitt costars as Jack Conrad, a well-known actor who helps Manny land a gig as an assistant for a major studio.
The movie shows the individual trajectories of these three people and they’re given enough screen time to show their journeys. Nellie begins a steady rise as a promising young actress; Manny eventually finds work as a director and Jack contemplates his popularity as a star when his films begin to disappoint.
Eventually the pressures of fame begin to get to Nellie’s head and so she copes by delving deep into drug addiction and gambling while Manny tries hard to help her out.
Babylon easily fits my description of the Audacious Rorschach Test. This means I describe a movie that dares to be unconventional and leaves us picking apart sequences and making of them what we will. In the case of Babylon, it’s certainly a film will polarize audiences going in.
I’m going to be fair and say that there are a lot of laughs in it. A scene involving Robbie fighting a rattlesnake got the biggest response out of me. It’s hysterical stuff. I did laugh frequently, but there’s also more than a fair amount of grotesque imagery which I won’t describe, but let’s just say it pushes the parameters of the R rating.
Chazelle knows how to make a well-made movie and this is definitely that. It also features a cast that brings exuberance in fits and starts; the music composed by Justin Hurwitz is another fantastic score and it’s a great-looking movie that pays homage to the era of filmmaking during the ’20s and ’30s.
What bothers me about the movie is that Chazelle was very much content on making a disorganized mess that in some scenes, he looks like he was pushing the envelope for the sake of pushing the envelope. It oftentimes features vulgarity without a purpose.
Having said all that, I can’t deny that when the movie works, it’s sinfully entertaining. When it doesn’t, I found myself hoping for a more structured screenplay and less for shock value.
It’s a movie I won’t soon forget. It’s not a film that’s forgettable for all the right and wrong reasons. Part of me is glad I saw it. Part of me.
Grade: B-
(Rated R for strong and crude sexual content, graphic nudity, bloody violence, drug use, and pervasive language.)
