This Is Brad Pitt's Most Underrated Movie On Netflix
It's been three decades since Ridley Scott plucked a little-known actor named Brad Pitt from relative obscurity for the fatalistic feminist action classic Thelma & Louise (1991), which means it's been about that long since the actor turned that small supporting roll as a charming thief with an all-too-pretty face into a massive springboard to bigger, better things.
Just to be clear, "bigger, better things" translates to virtually unparalleled superstardom that's been matched only by Brad Pitt's extraordinary staying power as one of Hollywood's most talented, bankable, and recognizable leading men.
Over the years, Pitt has proven a supremely versatile, surprisingly adventurous performer, utilizing his skill and stardom in service of everything from big-budget tentpole offerings to modestly priced indies helmed by some of the most compelling names in cinema. While the former category has led to such memorable offerings as the Oceans Eleven franchise, the zombie drama World War Z, and Quentin Tarantino's Inglorious Basterds, the latter has seen Pitt taking some of his biggest chances, and delivering some of his most brilliant work to date (see: Terry Gilliam's head-spinning 12 Monkeys, Guy Ritchie's crackling crime flick Snatch, Andrew Dominik's soul-stirring anti-Western The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford, James Gray's sci-fi stunner Ad Astra – among others).
Those films, of course, also tend to garner far fewer viewers than some of Brad Pitt's more high-profile projects. Even as some Brad Pitt movies get a bit more attention than others, it's almost impossible to label any film featuring the actor as "underrated" — though Pitt's harrowing 2006 drama Babel may just fit the bill. You can now check this minor masterwork out on Netflix. Here's what it's all about.
Babel is a multi-national marvel from one of cinema's most vital voices
You should know up front that Babel isn't exactly a "Brad Pitt movie" — at least not in the same vein as his many better known big-screen ventures. Rather, Babel finds the actor playing a key role in a sprawling, multi-national mosaic of a movie from one of cinema's most daring filmmakers.
That filmmaker is lauded Mexican auteur Alejandro González Iñárritu, who's gone on to net a handful of Academy Awards for dynamic movies like 2014's Birdman and Leonardo DiCaprio's brutal 2015 survival flick The Revenant.
Prior to embarking on the globe-trotting marvel that is Babel, Iñárritu made a name for himself on the strength of dramas with similar themes like Amores Perros (2000) and 2004's egregiously under-seen 21Grams. But even as impressively ambitious as those films are, they are mere tune-ups for Babel, which showcases the director expanding on his signature style in ways even his most devoted fans couldn't have anticipated.
Covering several seemingly disparate narratives in four separate countries (Morrocco, Japan, Mexico, and the United States), utilizing the native languages of each region, and featuring bravura turns from an impressive international cast (Cate Blanchett, Gael García Bernal, Elle Fanning, Adrianna Barraza, and Rinko Kikuchi among them), Babel is nothing if not ambitious in both narrative scope and the ways in which its stories are eventually intertwined.
Without spoiling the crux of the film (and Iñárritu spins legit cinematic magic with this one), you should know Pitt and Blanchett portray a struggling American couple whose soul-searching Morrocan sojourn is interrupted by an unimaginable tragedy. Know as well that where Iñárritu takes matters from there is certain to leave your heart firmly planted in your throat, and have you pondering the state of humanity for months after. Enjoy!