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An undeniably powerful motion picture experience, 21 Grams is a blistering and mesmerizing look at the lives of three people whose lives are affected by faith, power, courage, addiction, the consequences of moral choices and above all, the power of guilt.
This 2003 film centers on three characters: Paul Rivers (Sean Penn) is a mathematician who has had a heart transplant which has affected his decision to have a child with his wife (Charlotte Gainsbourg) via artificial insemination; Cristina Peck (Naomi Watts) is a suburban housewife and mother of three struggling with cocaine addiction; Jack Jordan (Benicio Del Toro) is an ex-con trying to start his life over again through his discovery of born again christianity. The story brings these three characters together through a horrible accident, which affects all three people in profoundly different and surprising ways. Reviewing this film without including major spoilers is difficult.
Director Alejandro Inarritu and screenwriter Guillermo Arriaga have constructed an initially confusing story because in the style of Quentin Tarantino, the story is told out of sequence and the screenplay takes a little too long letting us in on what parts of the story are the past and what parts are the present. But as the story begins to come into focus, we can't help but become completely invested in this tragic story. Another effective storytelling tool is that the accident that is the linchpin of the entire story, is never really seen, just giving the life-altering event even more power. Every scene of the film provides importance information, no superfluous waste of screentime here.
This film had my stomach in knots for most of the running tine, had me on the verge of tears, but most important of all, never allowed me to take my eyes off the screen.
This gritty and uncompromising drama is anchored by three superb lead performances. Watts and Del Toro both received richly deserved Oscar nominations. Del Toro is especially brilliant, in a performance that easily trumps his Oscar-winning work in Traffic. Penn actually won the Oscar for Lead Actor the same year for Mystic River, but I am now wondering if he should have won for this film instead. Not for every taste, but fans of Tarantino and Robert Altman will have a big head start.
An undeniably powerful motion picture experience, 21 Grams is a blistering and mesmerizing look at the lives of three people whose lives are affected by faith, power, courage, addiction, the consequences of moral choices and above all, the power of guilt.
This 2003 film centers on three characters: Paul Rivers (Sean Penn) is a mathematician who has had a heart transplant which has affected his decision to have a child with his wife (Charlotte Gainsbourg) via artificial insemination; Cristina Peck (Naomi Watts) is a suburban housewife and mother of three struggling with cocaine addiction; Jack Jordan (Benicio Del Toro) is an ex-con trying to start his life over again through his discovery of born again christianity. The story brings these three characters together through a horrible accident, which affects all three people in profoundly different and surprising ways. Reviewing this film without including major spoilers is difficult.
Director Alejandro Inarritu and screenwriter Guillermo Arriaga have constructed an initially confusing story because in the style of Quentin Tarantino, the story is told out of sequence and the screenplay takes a little too long letting us in on what parts of the story are the past and what parts are the present. But as the story begins to come into focus, we can't help but become completely invested in this tragic story. Another effective storytelling tool is that the accident that is the linchpin of the entire story, is never really seen, just giving the life-altering event even more power. Every scene of the film provides importance information, no superfluous waste of screentime here.
This film had my stomach in knots for most of the running tine, had me on the verge of tears, but most important of all, never allowed me to take my eyes off the screen.
This gritty and uncompromising drama is anchored by three superb lead performances. Watts and Del Toro both received richly deserved Oscar nominations. Del Toro is especially brilliant, in a performance that easily trumps his Oscar-winning work in Traffic. Penn actually won the Oscar for Lead Actor the same year for Mystic River, but I am now wondering if he should have won for this film instead. Not for every taste, but fans of Tarantino and Robert Altman will have a big head start.