Babel, or Babble?

***1/2

It had the most Golden Globe nominations with seven, but for a while Monday night it looked like Babel was about to go home empty-handed! And then it snags the BIG one - Best Picture, Drama. Wow, somewhat unexpected...I thought The Departed had that wrapped up. Directed by one of the talented trio of Mexican directors who've each had a big year (Alfonso Cuaron directed Children of Men, Guillermo del Toro directed Pan's Labyrinth, and Alejandro Gonzales Innaritu [AGI] directed Babel), Babel is the third movie in a trilogy (Amorres Perros, 21 Grams) that AGI created around the themes of chance, miscommunication, humanity, and redemption. The first 2 movies carried a weight that were commensurate with the drive, the plot, and the outcome of the movie. Babel is like the flashy, talented younger sibling that attracts a lot of attention but may or may not completely deliver on the promise. But like that sibling, it still has a lot to offer! Four stories intertwine - sort of - to show the chasms and yet intimacy that we share as a human race across this world. AGI's films have a distinct style, further marked by the sparse musical scores by Gustavo Santaollala (who also composed the moving, Oscar-winning score for Brokeback Mountain). Like Scorsese, AGI's movies have that certain look and feel due to a strong artistic vision of the director - you know you are going to go deep into characters' psyche's, you know not everything will be spelled out, you know the performances will be top-notch, you know the story is probably not linearly told, you know if you invest in watching it, the payoff will be well worth it. In Babel's case, the four stories were each so compelling that I almost wished I could've seen just one of the stories with a backstory. I wanted to know more about Brad Pitt's and Cate Blanchett's marriage (although because we don't is also one of the interesting qualities of the film - we don't need to know, we faintly recognize where they are in life...and generally why they are there). I wanted to know more about the Japanese Girl (who was amazing) and what happened earlier - and after the movie ended. I loved the way these stories each told just enough so that the choices they made and outcomes they experienced was as it should have been....as traumatic, emotional, or hopeful as truth itself. In the end, however, I felt a little ambushed. That these stories intertwined in the ways that they did was, in some cases, almost incidental. Sure, we visually see glimpses of one story within one of the other ones. But the fact that they are related did not add up to something "more," other than...oh, that's cool. I even caught myself toward the end almost searching to feel more as I saw a couple more threads come together. Do NOT get me wrong and think that I'm bordering on Crash territory here. That movie was so heavy-handed and basically instructed me to feel A because of B. I consider Babel an artistic achievement with great performances, but unlike AGI's 21 Grams, the sum of the excellent parts did not yield something more than the really good whole.