"Babylon"

Once again we have a film full of sound and fury signifying very little.  Every few years Hollywood needs to make a masturbatory film about itself.  A few years ago, it was an overly long film with Brad Pitt and Margot Robbie called "Once Upon a Time in Hollywood."  Brad Pitt starred as a fading lead actor in the Golden Age of Hollywood, circa 1969.   In a deja vu moment, this overly long film has Brad Pitt and Margot Robbie starring as silent screen actors whose careers go crashing down as the talkies come in.  If you feel like all of this is just a tad familiar, go watch "Singin' in the Rain."  Yeah.  There is absolutely nothing original here but it takes more than three hours because, despite the frenetic pace, it's about excess.  Gratuitous, over-the-top and bloated in every way, the opening scene, at a raucous party, lasts more than half an hour and shows more women's body parts than most gyno doctors see in a month.  It has a few saving graces.  The jazz score is terrific.  Jovan Adepo gets a lovely moment when he is asked to darken his black complexion to match the dark skin of his bandmates.  Jean Smart pretty much makes the film with a monologue which embraces both permanence and the absence of longevity.  But that's about it.  Didn't have to watch much of it closely because absolutely every moment was expected a mile out.  That being said, the denouement went beyond to the extreme.  There is a five minute montage.  That's long.  Really long.  It goes places, then it goes places, then it goes more places, and all you can think is, "Where the hell is this going?"  Much like the film.  Watch at your own risk.