Babylon - a brilliant spectacle turns dumb and dour
The 2022 movie Babylon flopped at theaters. It grossed about $63 million dollars against a reported (or rumored) budget of $60-$110 million.
Its failure was not undeserved.
The first hour and 20 minutes of the movie are a brilliant spectacle, the last hour and 50 minutes are decidedly not.
The movie loosely and to varying degrees centers on four people:
Silent-movie star Jack Conrad, played by Brad Pitt.
- Diva Nellie LaRoy, played by Margot Robbie.
- Henchman/sidekick/fixer Manny Torres, played by Diego Calva.
- Jazz trumpeter Sidney Palmer, played by Jovan Adepo.
All four of the characters are egocentric strivers, but Palmer is less idealistic and ruthless than the other three. The ultimate fate of the characters is signaled by the set up in the early scenes of the movie. While there are a couple of gimmicky plot twists the outcomes are consistent with the introductions.
The first part of the movie is a fun and lively introduction and portrayal of the characters and the world they operate in.
In addition to being good fun, it shows how changing technology affects production and production power structures.
The production set on the silent movie is raucous. The subsequent talking-movie production set is highly regimented. A sound technician carries as much power as the director, while the cameraman has been relegated to an inhumane soundproofed box.
After that high point the movie quickly falls apart.
There are three sequences in particular that sink the movie:
A scene where LaRoy meets with a group of powerful people to rehabilitate her trashy image. It's not at all clear who the people are. Far worse is that the scene feels like it is set in the late 19th Century, not in 1930. It's a wasted 10 minutes.
A ridiculous sub plot involving Tobey Maguire that reminded me of the Nicolas Cage movie 8mm. A movie should not do that. That's another wasted 20 minutes or so.
The entire ending. Just baffling and yet another 10 minutes wasted.
The scenes with Conrad and Palmer mostly hold up well throughout the movie but they don't accomplish much other than showing aspects of how the sausage is made.
Babylon simply doesn't have a real plot which is likely why audiences by and large stayed away.
Should you watch it? Yes, the first hour and 20 minutes and none of the rest.