21 Grams

Genre: psychological puzzle
Director: Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu
Release: 2003
Studio: 21 Films, This Is That – Focus Features
Rating: R
MBiS score: 8.4/10


So Close To My Heart


Paul Rivers (Sean Penn) is a very sick man and doctors give him no more than a few weeks to live. Cristina Williams (Naomi Watts), a former drug addict, now lives happily with her husband Michael Peck (Danny Huston) and their two daughters. Jack Jordan (Benicio Del Toro), an ex-convict, has turned to religion and struggles mightily to be accepted in society. Paul, Cristina and Jack… three different people, three separate paths that would never have crossed if it weren’t for fate’s unpredictable ways. With Charlotte Gainsbourg (Mary, Paul’s wife).

If you choose to watch 21 GRAMS (and I strongly urge you to do so), remember the plot points above because the movie was deliberately edited helter-skelter and you may not make sense of it otherwise. Yes, for two hours, you will be bombarded with scenes taken almost randomly from the end, the beginning or the middle portion of the story… but all of these snippets fit together beautifully to create a very serious and finely tuned spectacle.

Basically, the film’s story-line revolves around three people to whom life has given a second chance (or even a third) but such a blessing comes with a price tag: forced meetings and required violence. Intensity is the movie’s key feature, especially in its sharply written dialogues and its acting; the cast assembled here displays a diversity of talents seldom seen in a full-length motion picture. In all other respects, 21 GRAMS won’t shortchange you, I guarantee. By the way, its title refers to a physiological phenomenon I will not reveal for now.

What more can I tell you about this film? Not much. For movie fans, 21 GRAMS is another excellent work by the man behind the glorious AMORES PERROS. And for those who take their cinema seriously, it doubles as a master class in acting, editing and drama. Do see it!


MBiS

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