Babylon

Hollywood, in my opinion, has always been a questionable community for many decades, but if "Babylon" has any truth ti it, I certainly pegged that opinion correct. This expose of the early days of the Hollywood era was rife with decadence that was incredibly stunning. This being set at the mid 1920's, and displaying all the gratuitous everything, it's no wonder why this country financially collapsed in 1928--consequences having to be paid.

A tale of outsized ambition and outrageous excess, this story traces the rise and fall of multiple characters during an era of unbridled decadence and depravity in early Hollywood. It starts in 1926 during the silent film era with an established lead star Jack Conrad (Brad Pitt) as 'king of the hill'. He hires an assistant, Manny Torres (Diego Calva) who, after some lucky breaks and connections subsequently becomes a studio executive. Before that happens, Manny meets and befriends a would be actress discovery, Nellie LaRoy (Margot Robbie) who gets a break in a role when the star that project was supposed to do the role, ends up killing herself. Nellie becomes a huge star and becomes friends with Jack and all the other actors. But, in a community, where egos are huge and narcissism is the order of the day, there is much conflict and then throw in the progression of talkie films coming into play by 1927, and it becomes a perfect storm for many problems and issues that run the gambit. 

Others to round out the cast are Olivia Wilde as Ina Conrad, Jack's estranged wife, Jean Smart as critic, Elinor St. John, Jovan Adepo as musician, Sidney Palmer, Flea as director Bob Levine, Li Jun Li as Lady Fay Zhu, Lukas Haas as George Munn, Eric Roberts as Robert Roy, Nellie's father, Jeff Garlin as producer Don Wallach and Rory Scovel as The Count.

This was brilliantly and intensely directed by Damien Chazelle ("Guy and Madeline on a Park Bench" '09, "Whiplash" '14, "La La Land" '16, "First Man" '18) plus TV, a short and a video. As with his past films, Chazelle knows just the right amount of emotion his actors need to emit in order to convince the audience that these characters really do exist, and this film is no exception. Each film he helms simply gets better and better. It was also written by Chazelle ("Guy and Madeline on a Park Bench" '09, "The Last Exorcism Part II" '13, "Grand Piano" '13, "10 Cloverfield Lane" '16, "La La Land" '16) plus a short. As director, Chazelle excelled, however when it clearly came to the writing, the story simply became bogged down with continuity and cohesiveness issues. Maybe he was taking on too much of a premise to truly capture the essence that he was attempting to convey, otherwise, it just became lost after a while. Also, I understand the need to show us how depraved the ones in that community were, however it was incredibly gratuitous, to say the least, in bringing that point across. The beginning scene was one of a couple where it made me cringe because it just went on and on with the depravity. The acting, especially by that of Pitt, Robbie and Calva was handled amazingly well, but even they, the top stars that they are, couldn't save this. Also, this was a bit long-in-the-tooth--about 20 minutes could've been left out and it wouldn't have lost anything in the story.

Was this a total wash? No, of course not. There were some truly interesting scenes that actually tugged at your heart, but suffice it to say, the screenplay needed to be worked over again. If you're a Pitt or Robbie fan, you'll love this. Also, this is rated R for a reason. This not for kids or even some adults, so buyer beware.

Out of 4 Stars: 2                                          Rated: R                                                  190mins.