Gillipedia Official Rating: A $100 million dollar review
Score: 8/10
Despite 3 Oscar nominations, Babylon
was the butt of many jokes for absolutely bombing at the box office with
middling critic reviews. After the desperate persistence from a friend, I
finally relented and sat down for 3 hours to watch Damien Chazelle’s latest
film. And I’m so glad I did. I only watched after the Oscars were already over,
and it made me frustrated for the lack of love this film was shown. There’s a
whole lot of everything going on, but it’s extremely entertaining and takes
chances. This is Singin’ in the Rain meets The Wolf of Wall Street.
First, we have to address the shitting
elephant in the room. Of all the insane hysteria from the first 30 minutes of
this film, Dumbo’s brown release is what I would cut out first. Number 2 is not the only number we witness either. This opening behemoth was largely what the
poster and trailers focused on—the house party of a Hollywood elite where all
sorts of antics involving human bodies and drugs tirelessly perform through the
night. It’s like the climax of Eyes Wide Shut with again, the energy of The
Wolf of Wall Street. I wouldn’t be surprised if this level of vulgarity
caused what few moviegoers there were to walk out; I don’t want to undercut
that it’s a lot. But in the same breath, it’s also not tasteless. The
excess in crassness, scenery, and costumes sets up the wild difference of stars
on the screen versus their escapism and nepotistic pursuits without the film
rolling. And it’s shot meticulously well. I was in awe of how much happens
within the lens, and how Chazelle perfectly guides the viewer’s eye. He sets
your focus on a single character when he wants you to slow down, and he zooms
out to allow you to envelop the whole room with your gaze in total command;
there’s sweeping shots of the party and closeups of trumpet players because you
can’t have a Chazelle film if he’s not highlighting the jazz. There’s a lot of
surprising nuance to hook us through the story’s narrative, but it’s also a
great introduction to our 3 main players. The free-spirited Margot Robbie doing
precisely whatever she wants while still holding hope that one role can break
her through; but until then, she will blow you away with her moves in her small
red dress. Brad Pitt oversees more of the operation—the biggest, and most
expensive, name around, and he knows his influence. His morals and own
lifestyle is nothing to uphold, but there’s still heart and compassion enough
to make us root for his character. And the unsung hero is Manny, played by
Diego Calva. He will do anything and everything required of his employer if it
means the slightest chance of seeing the wonders of a movie set in person.
After we hit the title card 30 minutes
in, the next 20 minutes are a work of art and is the best editing from any film
last year. We now follow the next day on an outdoor movie set with many
projects concurrently taking place. Manny has found the favor of Pitt and runs
whatever errands. When the last camera on set breaks, Manny speeds into town in
search of a replacement before the day’s end. Robbie has gained the role of a
seductive girl in a bar, and she showcases an uncanny ability to act whatever
the director could possibly dream of for the perfect shot. And Pitt calls in
favors to renegotiate budgets while prepping for his own leading role—despite
non-stop alcohol consumption. And the way things break on set, fires start, and
the unwavering pace juggles our 3 leads among the larger set of this entire
production is gorgeous, frenetic, funny, and completely captivating. An hour
passes, but you’re riding the adrenaline high right alongside the film.
And it’s only after these 2 massive
scenes that we settle into the larger narrative of Manny working his way up
Hollywood, Robbie blossoming into the next big star, and Pitt trying to keep up
with a world on the cusp of switching over to talking pictures. Starting to
once again sound like Singin’ in the Rain? There’s a great homage as
Robbie works a scene for a new talking picture, and every take gets squandered
by actors missing marks, the new audio equipment not working, the crew interrupting,
etc. And it’s hilarious. Chazelle brings some of the incredible insults from Whiplash
here in a more comedic setting. Truly, this had me laughing harder than the
entirety of far too many comedies I watched last year. But what I thought would
be left as an homage became straight up Singin’ in the Rain… No, like,
they literally perform that song later in the film.
So for a 3 hour movie, is everything
in there totally necessary? And the answer is no. But not by as large a margin
as people may think. Really, from the first 30 minutes, I’d only cut out the elephant
mudslide. There’s also one or two side characters that could either have
reduced or completely eliminated roles without sacrificing the intention.
There’s a tamer party that happens roughly in the middle of the film that ends
with Robbie getting bit by a venomous snake. And this scene is the least
successful with minimal story elements, the comedy feeling a bit drained, and
no true compelling reason to leave it in except to balloon the runtime.
Removing a bulk of that scene maybe shaves 15 minutes for you. Otherwise, I’m
happy with the result. There’s even a late cameo from one of the producers of
the film that is sure to get a reaction from audiences. It’s tonally out of the
blue with the best spoiler-free comparison being that of Pulp Fiction.
But even this scene is a great change of pace from the rest of the film and
cements where the story is headed.
I’m not only content but am in
agreement that Black Panther: Wakanda Forever deserved the best costume
design Oscar over this film, but I am fuming that All Quiet on the Western
Front won production design and original score. Real life Hollywood may be
a little sick of rewarding Chazelle’s collaborator Justin Hurwitz, but the
score not only fits the time period of the film (unlike the winner), it’s just
one of the best scores in a film in years. Let me repeat myself: the production
design and score are incredible. I would even say the ensemble cast, led by the
great unknown star Diego Calva is better than Everything Everywhere All at
Once. I wouldn’t dare take Ke Huy Quan’s Oscar win away for best supporting
actor, but I’d even give Brad Pitt a nomination. And not only did Margot Robbie
deserve an acting nomination, she should’ve won the award. This film was also
snubbed of an editing and best picture nomination. Again, this movie is A LOT.
And it will drive people away, primarily from the first 30 minutes. But by the
end of the film, Chazelle is practically yelling at the audience proclaiming, “See?
I make this because I care about the artform of films!” The excess is in every
regard of this movie, but from top to bottom, it actually works on almost every
level. This doesn’t make it a perfect film, but it is one of the best films to
have come out in 2022.
Other Oscars
Thoughts:
I first want
to put it out there that I successfully predicted 16 out of the 23 winners. All
Quiet on the Western Front won more than needed, I’m overall happy that Everything
Everywhere All at Once won big, and there were a few snubs aside from the
review above including the absolute snub of The Batman not in the
running for best cinematography. Even Jimmy Kimmel impressed my low standards
by not holding back a few punches with some jokes. Kimmel didn’t hold punches,
but there also wasn’t any slaps to speak of. Marcel the Shell With Shoes On
should’ve won best animated feature over Del Toro, and I was happy to see Top
Gun: Maverick get some love. Honestly, one of the better Oscars in recent
memory!
