Brad Pitt gives his best performance ever in Babel, but it’s nothing close to a lead — Babel is an ensemble piece — and so talk of a Best Actor nomination, no offense, is without foundation. (Tom O’Neil is saying Pitt has “declared himself in the supporting race” — has he said this in so many words?) It’s a Best Supporting Actor situation or nothing. The crying-on-the-phone- with-his-son sells the performance, but the one that seeps in even more is the peeing scene with Cate Blanchett, who plays Pitt’s wife.
