jk-96

No redeeming value whatsoever. If I had been in a theater I would have walked out, but since I was comfy on my couch at home, I hung in there till the end. There is nothing here to hold on to, nothing to take away. Flawed characters can be illuminating, but these characters make mistakes that are simply stupid and annoying. No insights to be had. No revelations to be found. No laughs, no "aha!" moments anywhere. Some works of art illustrate the futility of life, man's inhumanity to man, and offer insight into our own struggles --but unfortunately not Babel. A shallow movie, when it knows it is shallow, can be amusing at times. But the worst thing is, Babel thinks it is saying something. It is trying to con us into believing that something profound is being said: something about our inability to communicate, something about cultures, something about families. But it is saying exactly nothing! Vapid stories woven together, however artfully, are still vapid stories. Save your $$$.

I wish I could remember who recommended this movie to me, so I could find them and throttle them soundly. This kind of idiocy can give quantum mechanics a bad name. The "experts" were like Woody Allen rejects, lacking any wit or irony. Spare me. The whole thing was a blathering mess. It was like some one just discovered some rudimentary and superficial aspects of the uncertainty principle and then dashed out to tell the world by making a horrible movie. Who funds projects like this? What's Marlee Matlin doing???? Help!!!! If this DVD is being given away for free at a yard sale, don't even pick it up, unless you are going to use it in a craft project, or hang it in your garden to keep crows away. Bad movies happen. What can you do? But long winded full of themselves absolutely pretentious movies like this need to need to be stomped on, scratched or melted down for creative re-use.

As I watched the credits roll on endlessly, my only thought was, "Well at least this project kept a whole lot of people employed." I laughed a few times, but got bored since the shallow characters didn't interest me and the story was lame. I love Chris Rock and Ali G, but I resented the wisecracks aimed at the adults and found little of value for children. I certainly would not bring my grandchildren to this. The ironic use of themes from "Born Free" and "Chariots of Fire" only underscored how trivial this movie is compared to the stories being parodied in the music. And what are we left with? Friends stick together? There's no place like home, even if it's a sterile cage? Growling loud and batting smaller creatures defenseless brings "peace" to a society? Let's suppress our true natures so we can fit in with our peers? No thanks!