{"id":166389,"date":"2022-12-23T18:29:02","date_gmt":"2022-12-23T18:29:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/babylon-review-brad-pitt-margot-robbie-star-in-damien-chazelles-version-of-singin-in-the-rain-on-steroids\/"},"modified":"2022-12-23T18:29:02","modified_gmt":"2022-12-23T18:29:02","slug":"babylon-review-brad-pitt-margot-robbie-star-in-damien-chazelles-version-of-singin-in-the-rain-on-steroids","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/babylon-review-brad-pitt-margot-robbie-star-in-damien-chazelles-version-of-singin-in-the-rain-on-steroids\/","title":{"rendered":"‘Babylon’ review: Brad Pitt, Margot Robbie star in Damien Chazelle’s version of ‘Singin’ in the Rain’ on steroids"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n \n After romanticizing Hollywood in \u201cLa La Land,\u201d Damien Chazelle widens his \u201cAnother Day of Sun\u201d lens to explore the town’s dark roots in \u201cBabylon,\u201d which is basically another dawn-of-talkies era \u201cSingin’ in the Rain\u201d on a cocktail of ampethamines and steroids. Despite a stellar cast and showy moments (given who’s involved how could there not be?), the writer-director’s sprawling, messy, three-hour-plus endurance test isn’t ready for its closeup.\n <\/p>\n \n Following multiple characters and mixing in close-to-reality versions of Hollywood lore to ground the exercise, \u201cBabylon\u201d opens with a sensory-overload illustration of early showbiz decadence and debauchery circa 1926. In a not-too-subtle symbol of that, the film opens with a low-level studio employee (Diego Calva) hauling an elephant up a hill to serve as an accessory at an absurdly lavish party (OK, orgy, but given what’s to come, it’s not worth quibbling about semantics).\n <\/p>\n \n It’s more than 30 minutes before the title blasts across the screen, but by then, Chazelle has introduced most of the key characters, including an aging Douglas Fairbanks-like star (Brad Pitt) on wife No. Whatever, a talented musician (Jovan Adepo), and a tough-as-nails wannabe actress (Margot Robbie, stealing every scene she’s in) who announces, \u201cI’m already a star,\u201d and then when asked what movies she’s been in says, \u201cNothing is enough.\u201d\n <\/p>\n \n There’s also the gossip columnist (Jean Smart), the exotic entertainer (Li Jun Li) and an assortment of strivers and stars, with everyone having boarded the same escalator, the only question being whether their side is heading up or going down.\n <\/p>\n \n The advent of sound pictures shakes everything up in a big way, just as it did in \u201cSingin’ in the Rain,\u201d setting the stage for career-making rises and tragic falls.\n <\/p>\n \n There’s some poignance in that, but Chazelle comes bounding out of the gate so aggressively \u2013 with such over-the-top flourishes, from projectile vomiting to the elephant relieving itself at an unfortunate time \u2013 that it’s difficult to care much about most of the cartoon -quality personalities.\n <\/p>\n
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