REVIEW: ‘Babylon’ Is An Overlong & Overindulgent

2022 appears to be the year when filmmakers want to bring people back to theaters. From Steven Spielberg to Sam Mendes, filmmakers have crafted what could only be described as love letters to the silver screen. This kind of impulse is understandable; with a pandemic having upended the way we think about life, it’s hard not to crave that communal experience. And at first glance, Damien Chazelle’s Babylon seems to want to showcase why movies are magical. But it soon drowns in an excess of its own making, with any merits it has going under as well.

Babylon is set in the 1920s when films were transitioning from being purely silent affairs to having full-blown sound. It’s there that Manny Torres (Diego Calva) encounters aspiring actress Nellie LaRoy (Margot Robbie). Manny’s instantly stricken by Nellie’s fiery spirit, and the two have multiple encounters throughout their respective careers. Nellie has a meteoric rise to stardom, though it’s hobbled by her vices, while Manny serves as the personal assistant to megastar Jack Conrad (Brad Pitt). 

It’s not surprising why Chazelle may have been drawn to make this movie. His films have always had a larger-than-life spirit, whether intertwining love and jazz or charting mankind’s path to the stars. But this time, his reach exceeds his grasp as he throws shocking scene after scene at the audience. The opening scene, for example, features Manny attempting to get an elephant to a party; halfway through, it defecates on the driver. For a solid three minutes. The entire film is full of scenes like this, whether it’s an orgy or a man scarfing down live rats, and it just gets tedious. 

The film’s biggest sin is cramming what’s essentially two films’ worth of story into a three-hour-long runtime. Robert Ebert famously said, “No good movie is too long, and no bad movie is short enough.” It’s a quote that kept running through my head while watching this, as I wondered, “when is this film going to end?” And it burns through what should be at least three natural stopping points. Filmmaking is, first and foremost, about storytelling; you have to know what to keep and what to cut. It’s a shame that Chazelle seems to have lost sight of that.

And of the twin plotlines, Nellie and Manny’s could have easily carried the film. Jack’s is one we’ve seen before: the man caught in the turbulent grip of change and got swept up under it. Some might even look at it as Chazelle’s commentary on how the current state of cinema has changed to favor mega-blockbusters over indies and mid-budget fare. I call it a song that’s well out of tune. Even Pitt, who’s been a rather reliable presence this year, feels like he’s coasting on autopilot. Though, to be fair, Brad Pitt on autopilot makes for a pretty entertaining performance.

In the end, what makes Babylon worth watching are the performances of Robbie and Calva. Robbie is absolutely magnetic, from her first scene where she crashes a Jeep into a seemingly endless row of priceless statues to Nellie’s first big scene in a Western picture where she improvises a madcap dance number. It’s impossible not to keep your eyes off the screen whenever she’s on it. Calva matches her scene for scene and is the performer who grows the most. When he first appears, he’s wide-eyed and innocent, open to the promise of Hollywood. But as time passes, he buries that optimism under slicked-back hair and sharp suits. Those costuming choices and how Calva carries himself speak volumes — and he doesn’t even have to say a word. And the chemistry the two share is so natural viewers might forget this is a movie and actually believe that two people are falling in love.

The rest of the cast also turn in some spectacular performances. Jean Smart, in particular, is a hoot as an aging gossip columnist who delivers some of the film’s most cutting scenes. The real standout is Tobey Maguire as, a shifty crime boss. His pale demeanor and bug-eyed grin are a far cry from his usually wholesome image and a reminder that he can deliver intense performances when needed. Likewise, I wish the film would have focused more on jazz musician Sidney Palmer (Jovan Adepo), especially as most of his interactions with other characters prove that the promises of Hollywood are often only extended to certain people.

Regarding the technical side of Babylon, cinematographer Linus Sandgren and editor Tom Cross provide the film with some admittedly stunning visual moments. One such moment revolves around Palmer pouring his heart and soul into a trumpet solo on the set of a film. Sandgren frames the scene so that golden light pours all around Adepo. Cross cuts in various angles of his fingers, furiously pressing the trumpet keys as his music rises to a fantastic crescendo. It’s one of the handfuls of images from the film that stuck with me, and it continues to show Chazelle’s love of jazz.

Babylon is too high on its own supply, with Margot Robbie & Diego Calva carrying a film that’s overlong, overstuffed, and loses sight of its story. I love movies, and I love writing about movies, and I even love going to the theaters and basking in the magic of movies. But this film carries very little of that spark.

Babylon premieres in theaters nationwide on December 23, 2022.