I am a fan of Damien Chazelle. I think Whiplash is one of the best debut movies of this century, would have been perfectly happy if La La Land had actually won Best Picture (for the record though, Moonlight is a top tier Best Picture winner) and have made my case here why First Man is underappreciated.
Well let me stand on the soap box once again for Chazelle, this time defending what has widely been cast as his worst movie, the Brad Pitt and Margot Robbie Hollywood epic Babylon.
With Babylon streaming on Hulu in the US as of March 8, my hope is that people give it a try (or a second chance) to hopefully see what I see — that Babylon is a wild, entertaining, ambitious ode to cinema and another example of why Chazelle is among the best directors in Hollywood.
Released in December 2022, Babylon stars Pitt, Robbie, Diego Calva and an impressive ensemble that includes Jean Smart, Jovan Adepo, Li Jun Li, Tobey Maguire, Samara Weaving and more as those striving for fame and fortune in late 1920s Hollywood as it transitions from the silent era to sound.
Babylon was nominated for three Oscars, but none came for Chazelle, his star-studded cast or Best Picture. The movie made less than $16 million at the US box office during its run in movie theaters (just over $65 million worldwide, per Box Office Mojo). And ultimately, the movie has been labeled as “Rotten” on Rotten Tomatoes
Of course, RT scores should be taken with a grain of salt. The movie was still liked by more than half the critics who reviewed it and audiences that saw it. That suggests it was a love it or hate it movie. Though often those that loved it really loved it.
I’m among that category, as evidenced by my 4.5-star Babylon review. While there are a few bits that I found a bit to excessive, ultimately I loved the ambitious and raucous display of Hollywood’s nascent days, where they were figuring things out as they went along, all masterfully crafted by Chazelle and his team.
Robbie is brilliant as the rising star Nellie LaRoy, Pitt is spot on in his performance as the aging movie star, Smart nails the movie’s big monologue and Calva is strong in his breakout performance.
On the Talking Pictures podcast with Turner Classic Movie’s Ben Mankiewicz back in November 2024, Robbie expressed how she doesn’t understand why Babylon failed in its initial run (and let’s remember, Robbie was a producer on the billion dollar hit Barbie, so she knows what she is talking about).
“I love it,” Robbie said. “I know I am biased because I am very close to the project and I obviously believe in it, but I still can’t figure out why people hated it. I wonder if in 20 years people are going to be like, ‘Wait, Babylon didn’t do well at the time?’ Like when you hear that Shawshank Redemption was a failure at the time and you’re like like how is that possible?”
But in our era of streaming we don’t have to wait 20 years for opinions on movies to sway. With Babylon streaming on Hulu and elsewhere (MGM Plus in the US; Netflix and Paramount Plus in the UK), we can begin the reevaluation of Babylon right now.
I hope you do. And if you need any final convincing, watch the trailer for Babylon directly below:
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