Babylon

Last weekend, Babylon, the newest movie by Damien Chazelle was released in theaters. Babylon follows four characters, (Brad Pitt, Margot Robbie, Diego Calva, and Jovan Adepo) as Hollywood transitions from the silent film era to that of the "talkies". These characters must learn how to transition to this new era as well as transition to the new Hollywood lifestyle.

This movie is firstly a love letter to old Hollywood. It is all about the making of movies in the silent film era as well as the lifestyles of the actors during that time. It spends a lot of time on the general day-to-day life of film production and how films were made during that time. The film is also great as a character study of our four main focus characters. Instead of having a main plot, the movie focuses more on the characters and their lifestyles and how they try to make their way in Hollywood and their jobs in film. I also really enjoyed how this film showcased how these old movies were made and gives us a glimpse of the movie magic that was going on. I also liked how we got to journey through the transition to talking films and really got to see how much Hollywood had to adjust and how hard it was at the beginning. Finally, the standouts in this film are the performances. The long length of the movie really gives the audience time to get to know these characters and really gives the actors time to flesh out their performances. Margot Robbie, Diego Calva, and Brad Pitt all give fantastic performances and are all deserving of Oscar nominations.

One thing that some people may have issues with this film is that is not plot based. It is very much character-focused and doesn't really have a central plot. This style sometimes doesn't sit well with people as they feel the movie is unfocused and not going anywhere. I didn't have an issue with it but some people may not like it for that reason.

There are a few issues I had with the film. The main issue is that I thought the film was too long. The runtime clocks in at over 3 hours which I feel was not really needed for the story they wanted to tell. The long length caused the movie to meander just a bit as well as drag quite a bit at times. Had it been in the two-and-a-half hour to two hours and forty-minute mark, I think it would have worked much better. The other issue I had was that I felt the film was a bit excessive at times in terms of the nudity and events. The party sequences had some graphic scenes that just seemed a bit much. I did not enjoy those parts and thought they could have been done without them. Between the length and the graphic scenes, the main issue with the film is that it is a bit excessive.

Overall, this is a good love letter to old Hollywood with some fantastic performances. Had the movie backed off just a bit on the length and the nudity scenes, I think it would've been a much better film.

Score: 7.5/10 Grade: B

Recommendation: Check it out if you are a fan of movies or old Hollywood.

R Rating Disclaimer: This movie is rated R for nudity and language. If excessive amounts of either of those things bother you, then you will want to sit this out.