Babel

Interlocking stories show how interconnected everyone in the world is. Also that guns are bad, racism is bad, the War on Terror is stupid and deaf chicks can'Ã?Â?Ã?Â?t get laid even if they're totally smokin' Japanese schoolgirls with no panties. A towering bore.

By Luke Y. Thompson Oct 27, 2006 12:17 AMTags

Alejandro González Iñárritu (21 Grams, Amores Perros) once again teams up with screenwriter Guillermo Arriaga for a movie in which several interlocking stories ultimately show how interconnected everyone in the world is. Also that guns are bad, racism is bad, the War on Terror is stupid and deaf chicks can’t get laid even if they’re totally smokin’ Japanese schoolgirls with no panties.

Yes, it’s this year’s Crash, a feel-good movie for the politically correct that sets up some intriguing characters and premises but resolves them all with a sledgehammer of self-righteousness.

Two Moroccan children play with a gun and accidentally shoot American tourist Cate Blanchett; the injured Blanchett and hubby Brad Pitt are stranded in a small desert town waiting for help to arrive as the U.S. government overreacts; back in America, their children go to Mexico with their nanny (Adriana Barraza) to a wedding, only to encounter racist border cops; and in Japan, the deaf-mute daughter (Rinko Kikuchi) of the gun’s original owner tries to attract anyone who won’t be put off by her handicap.

Combine these dull, didactic stories, and you've got a towering bore.

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