Split Decision: "Babylon"
Thursday, January 5, 2023 at 8:01AM No two people feel the same exact way about any film. Thus, Team Experience is pairing up to debate the merits of each of the big awards season movies this year. Here’s Chris James, Ben Miller and Glenn Dunks duking it out over Babylon.
CHRIS: Hey Glenn and Ben, happy to chat with you on the most talked about/least seen movie of the holiday season. Oscar winner Damien Chazelle's big budget tale, Babylon, opened with $3.6 million over the holiday weekend. I hate to be the person to kick a movie when it's down. It benefits no one for an original auteur project to flop. However, I found Babylon to be an all-out disaster. Its grand scale debauchery grows stale with each passing scene, with nothing ever exuding sexiness or splendor.
Much could be saved if Chazelle had a clear thesis with the movie, or engaging characters to follow. Unfortunately, Chazelle never quite knows whether to vilify or exalt Hollywood; instead, we just get a confused portrait of the silent era that feels neither real nor heightened. Despite a game performance from Margot Robbie, none of the central three characters jump off the screen because they don't have a strong, propulsive want. They do wild and crazy things, but the movie never bothers giving any of their actions a strong enough motivation. Maybe I'm just being the Grinch of Babylon. What are both of your thoughts on Babylon? Were there any elements that really worked - or didn't - for either of you?