ongoing

First off, you can't call Brad Pitt and Cate Blanchett the stars of "Babel." Yes, you find out eventually, the events that take place across the world are linked however spuriously to them. But they have minimal screen time - or at least not dominant screen time. This movie, by Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, has that dislocating, discomforting feeling his "21 Grams" also had. Blanchett's character is shot in Morocco by a young boy, challenged to shoot at a passing tour bus. The US government believe it's an act of terrorism, not ill-conceived bravado. Other stories emerge: a deaf-dumb girl in Japan tries to cope with hormones and despair over her mother's suicide, a Mexican nanny (without papers) takes two children over the border to keep them with her for her son's wedding - and bad things happen. There are moments of splendor in this movie: the wide open dessert, Tokyo at night, the Mexican wedding itself. But the characters all to offen fail to communicate - hence the movie's title - and that's a contributing source to everybody's travails. Inarritu bounces among these stories and our interest in each waxes and wanes. When the threads pull together, there's an "Oh, yes" moment which is rewarding. The Japanese girl played by Rinko Kikuchi is the most heart-breaking of characters - to say more would spoil the surprise of her breakdown. It's an unsettling, yet gorgeously photographed, movie you will leave pondering and discussing. It's at the Coolidge Corner Theatre, Landmark Kendall Square Cinemas, AMC Loew's Boston Common 19 and suburban theaters. Tickets: $9-$10. Call for showtimes.

CCT: 290 Harvard St., Brookline 617-734-2500, LKSC, 1 Kendall Square, Cambridge, 617-499-1996, Loew's, 175 Tremont St., 617-423-3499