Babel
Dir: Alejandro González Iñárritu
2006
**
Alejandro González Iñárritu is an amazing director, his visuals being some of the greatest of the 00s. However, I have a real problem with how his films are edited. Stephen Mirrione and Douglas Crise have edited most of González Iñárritu's films, I have no idea how much input the director has here but I would argue that there are problems with it within all of his films, which I find quite distracting. Babel being the best worst example. There are some wonderful compositions here that are skipped over far too quickly, and some footage that most directors would have left on the cutting room floor. I love Guillermo Arriaga's writing but  González Iñárritu's adaptations never quite hit the mark I feel, especially when compared to Tommy Lee Jones's amazing The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada. I'm not surprised the duo parted ways after Babel, a move that was good for both of them though I feel. Brad Pitt and Cate Blanchett had an easy day at the office in my opinion, neither impress or disappoint, only Rinko Kikuchi and the Moroccan cast impressed me. Unlike Guillermo Arriaga's original script (that Alejandro González Iñárritu later fiddled with), the film is a contrived mess of illogical musing failing to convince or even entertain. Stereotype? Karma? Understanding? Unseen and unheard communication? A butterfly flaps its wings and a hurricane starts blowing on the other side of the world...and gives me a headache. Its all foreplay and no action, and the foreplay ain't that great either. It looks beautiful and there is a great idea here but Alejandro González Iñárritu and Guillermo Arriaga are better than this. It's overrated in my opinion.