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Review

21 Grams

Director

Alejandro González Iñárritu

Year

2003

Rating

Reviewed by

Gon Curiel a.k.a. Groucho

Review date

Thursday, November 27, 2003

Paul Rivers (Sean Penn) is on the verge of death, waiting for a heart donor to die in order to survive; Cristina Peck (Naomi Watts) has found in her life as a wife and mother a peace she never knew, having been, among other things, a drug addict; Jack Jordan (Benicio Del Toro) found meaning in religion after a troubled past as a ne’er do well… A tragic accident changes the lives of the three, throwing them into a whirlpool of grief, resentment, and guilt. The impact of an instant in so many lives is shocking, but so it is in real life, and the portrait of such event in 21 Grams is as realistic, and crude, as can possibly be.

Alejandro González Iñárritu’s feature debut Amores Perros (2000) shocked the entire world. It was a masterful portrayal of three stories of very different people tied together by a terrible accident. Though the tone and mood of the two movies is very different (his feature debut being more on the light—even comedic—side, despite its very dark undertones), it’s pretty obvious that a similar premise was worked for 21 Grams. In that way, I feel that Amores Perros (2000) worked more smoothly, flowed more naturally and spontaneously. However, the reach of 21 Grams and the reactions it produces are completely different and in that way it’s a winner as well, even more so in a way.

The way it’s crafted also helps: Screenwriter Guillermo Arriaga presents the story in non-linear fashion, showing us different moments from each story, which at first is disconcerting, but also quite intriguing. When it all becomes clear, it’s very distressing. The movie is not sentimentalist, but on the contrary, very crude, which makes it hard for the audience to get involved with the characters. But their agony is so real, it can be easily felt; in fact, it’s impossible not to feel it.

The performances are first-rate. My favorite is Watts’, who’s out of herself more often than not, in a nerve-wrecking performance. You know Penn is reliable, and this is one of the strongest male performances of 2003. Del Toro doesn’t stay behind though, providing such strength and weakness at the same time that it’s just shattering. Charlotte Gainsbourg, as Penn’s wife, and Melissa Leo, as Del Toro’s own, also do a great job.

A group of Mexican people did a fine job with this movie, including photographer Rodrigo Prieto and composer Gustavo Santaolalla, but everyone involved in the making did something great.

A painful slice of life… quite worth seeing!

“The weight of a stack of nickels. The weight of a chocolate bar. The weight of a hummingbird...”

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Other reviews of 21 Grams (2003): Morris

Review

21 Grams

Director

Alejandro González Iñárritu

Year

2003

Rating

Reviewed by

José Ruiloba a.k.a. Morris

Review date

Wednesday, December 03, 2003

When Mexican director Alejandro González Iñarritu showed his movie Amores Perros (2000) to the world it became somewhat of an instant classic. One of those foreign movies everyone has heard about. As a huge fan of that movie I couldn’t wait to see what the director would do next. The answer is 21 Grams.

Paul (Sean Penn) is a critically ill mathematician who has an unhappy marriage and is waiting for a heart donor to die so a transplant can be performed on him. Cristina (Naomi Watts) used to be a drug addict but has now recovered and lives with her husband and daughters. Jack (Benicio del Toro) is an ex-con with deep religious beliefs that is responsible for an accident that tragically affects the lives of all three.

21 Grams is a difficult movie to explain, experience and understand. I cannot think of a more challenging movie this year than this. To start with, it has a very complicated structure in which we are shown flashes of each character’s life in no particular order, so they could be from the past or the future. It takes a while to get used to it, but soon it starts to become quite clearer, as if we were being told the story of this or that person, with us having to put all the pieces together.

But I’m not just talking about the structure when I say this movie is challenging. I must also add that it is emotionally devastating. You have to be prepared to watch a story about life and death unfold in front of your eyes with no trace of sentimentality or false pretension. The movie is real and gritty. It is also unapologetic and crude. It is, in a few words, a true portrait of life.

When I heard that there was an accident that would affect the lives of three people I instantly thought of Amores Perros (2000), but I was pleasantly surprised when 21 Grams turned out to be another thing altogether. The accident here involves only one of the three main characters, yet screenwriter Guillermo Arriaga shows us how one little and spontaneous incident can be of such immense impact to so many different people. Just an instant, just a moment...

The movie also makes you think about how death can be the beginning of life, how life can be death itself and how a near-death experience can be the life-changing moment you were waiting for but felt afraid to experience. It goes on to show how even in the most dark and difficult circumstance there can be redemption.

Performance-wise I don’t think you’ll see a more accomplished ensemble in any movie this year. Sean Penn goes on to show why he’s considered a national treasure. His Paul is a very complicated and lonely man going through a very emotional period in his life. You never know what’s going on in his head yet you always understand his actions. Meanwhile Naomi Watts delivers a gut-wrenching, absolutely devastating performance as a woman who has to go through the most difficult experience any human being can experience in this world. And Benicio del Toro is fantastic as this gorilla-like conflicted man who finds refuge in all the wrong places.

Excellent support is given by Melissa Leo and Carlotte Gainsbourg in small yet pivotal roles.

An extraordinary achievement by director González Iñarritu. This is one of those movies that is unlike anything Hollywood produces nowadays, which goes into territories too difficult to handle, too deep to put into words...

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Other reviews of 21 Grams (2003): Groucho