Babel (2006 Film) Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu

Box office

Released in seven theaters on 27 October 2006, and then released nationwide in 1,251 theaters on 10 November 2006, Babel grossed $34.3 million in North America, and $101 million in the rest of the world, for a worldwide box office total of $135.3 million, against a budget of $25 million.[4][17] Babel is the highest-grossing film of González Iñárritu's Death Trilogy (including Amores perros and 21 Grams[35]), both in North America and worldwide.[36][37]

Critical response

Babel received generally positive reviews. Review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes gives the film an approval rating of 69% based on 205 reviews, with an average rating of 6.80/10, making the film a "Fresh" on the website's rating system. The critical consensus states that "In Babel, there are no villains, only victims of fate and circumstance. Director Alejandro González Iñarritu weaves four of their woeful stories into this mature and multidimensional film."[38] At Metacritic, the film received a weighted average score of 69/100, based on 38 reviews, which indicates "generally favorable reviews".[39] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B-" on an A+ to F scale.[40]

Film critic Roger Ebert included Babel in his The Great Movies list, stating that the film "finds Inarritu in full command of his technique: The writing and editing moves between the stories with full logical and emotional clarity, and the film builds to a stunning impact because it does not hammer us with heroes and villains but asks us to empathize with all of its characters."[41]

Accolades