21 Grams (2003)

best movie i've ever seen.

Bad Acting and worse Bad Screenplay

It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.

It is an exhilarating, distressing, funny and profound film, with one of the more memorable film scores in years,

21 GramsIts grotesque tone and dark theme projected in a convoluted way is definitely thought provoking and intriguing enough to invest in it but as much as vocal the feature is about its characters, it somehow fails to connect with the audience to the level as it should. Guillermo Arriaga's script is uproaring and upbeating and when projected through Alejandro G. Inarritu's vision, the execution surpasses its witty script. The performance objective is satisfactory coming from amazing cast like Sean Penn, Naomi Watts and Benecio Del Toro. 21 Grams is not your "happy-go-lucky" feature but under Alejandro's surveillance, he somehow manages to makes a definite point out of this chaotic mess.

Confused, tired, disappointed, left hanging, that is how I feel about 21 Grams. Another feeling I had was a headache from trying to figure out all the supposed hidden meanings, and the closing monologue.The back-and-forth-in-time scene sequence didn't work for me. I don't necessarily believe movies should be linear (two of my favourite movies are Pulp Fiction and Reservoir Dogs, and they are not linear in their scene sequence), but 21 Grams overdoes the non-linearity. I kept feeling like I was cheating, as if I was skipping forward in the movie. A linear storytelling would have worked a lot better, and made me feel more surprised when the story took a twist.There were too many loose ends in the movie (I won't mention them, to avoid spoiling the movie for others). I just felt like I was left hanging.I couldn't grasp the implication of the 21 grams concept, even though I thought I understood the idea before the movie started. I left the movie feeling confused, and quite bitter, as I felt ripped off as the supposed deeper meaning was fairly lame or unfathomable, and the movie fairly pretentious.

There are films with bad or no stories that benefit from the way that they are made; the scenes strung together out of sequence, a shaky hand held camera, a voice over narrator. Twenty One Grams is a film that benefits from a good story (no matter what other reviewers might say) and director Alejandro González Iñárritu's artfully piecing that story together. Though the scenes are, in fact, shown out of sequence, it is extremely rare that the viewer does not have some idea of what is happening, what is being forecast, and what must have happened just before this scene is shown. Naomi Watts is fantastic; when she 'loses it' out of anger and despair, you believe every word, every motion. Likewise Benecio Del Toro. Sean Penn plays against his normal roles; here he is a more quiet, introspective, instructor. If there is a weak spot in this film, perhaps it is Penn. On the other hand, perhaps not. Bottom line, once I selected the film from On Demand, I could not stop watching it.

When I first heard the title of this film, I assumed it was something to do with drug dealing or something, in fact the title refers to the amount of body weight supposedly lost at the moment of death, directed by Alejandro G. Iñárritu (Amores Perros, Babel, Birdman, The Revenant). Basically the story is told in a non-linear manner, and focuses on three unassociated and well-meaning but flawed characters who are brought together by a tragic car accident that changes their lives. Paul Rivers (BAFTA nominated Sean Penn) is a critically ill mathematician in a loveless marriage to English emigrant Mary (Nymphomaniac's Charlotte Gainsbourg), he has a fatal heart condition, Mary wants him to donate his sperm so she can have a baby after he dies. Cristina Peck (Oscar and BAFTA nominated Naomi Watts) is an upper-class suburban housewife and happily married homemaker with two young daughters, she is a recovering addict with a secret past of drug abuse and alcoholism. Jack Jordan (Oscar and BAFTA nominated Benicio Del Toro) is an ex-convict who has turned to the Christian faith, and in doing so has found strength to recover from drug and alcohol addiction, and he has raised a family. One evening the three are tied together when Jack kills Cristina's husband and children in a hit-and-run accident, her husband's heart is donated to Paul, who begins his recovery, Cristina is devastated and returns to drugs and alcohol, Jack is stricken with guilt and starts using drugs again, and while incarcerated he unsuccessfully attempts to suicide. In the time that follows, Cristina does not press charges against Jack, leaving prison Jack cannot incorporate himself into normal life, and leaves home to work in manual labour, and Paul finds an opportunity to meet Cristina, she is unaware of the heart donation, they form a close and eventually ignite a relationship. Cristina is furious when she finds out the surgery, and forces him, but eventually reconsiders, needing each other they continue their relationship, but his new heart is rejecting the heart transplant, the outlook looks grim, Cristina starts to dwell on the tragic past, and becomes obsessed with exacting revenge on Jack. Paul is goaded by Cristina to murdering Jack, using the same private detective that found Cristina, Paul finds Jack, but holding him at gunpoint he is unable to kill him, Paul tells him to "just disappear", but Jack later returns, still feeling guilty for the heartache he has caused, he wants Paul to kill him, there is a struggle, it ends with Paul collapsing and shooting himself. Jack and Cristina rush Paul to hospital, despite telling he shot Paul, Jack is released by the police, Paul dies, and the conflict between Cristina and Jack stays unresolved, Cristina finds out she is pregnant and prepares for a new baby, and Jack returns to his family. Also starring The Fighter's Melissa Leo as Marianne Jordan, Eddie Marsan as Reverend John, Clea DuVall as Claudia, Danny Huston as Michael, Paul Calderon as Brown and Denis O'Hare as Dr. Rothberg. Penn, Watts and Del Toro are fine acting talents, and each give splendid performances, the story with three lives brought together by an accident is cleverly done, with good themes of faith and redemption, it is unusual to have events before and after the event not playing in chronological order, but it is edited in a way that you can still understand what goes in what order, an interesting drama. It was nominated the BAFTA for Best Original Screenplay and Best Editing. Very good!