21 Grams (2003)

User Rating:

7.9/10   

Director:

Alejandro González Iñárritu

Writer (WGA):

Guillermo Arriaga (written by)

Release Date:

26 December 2003 (USA)

Genre:

Crime | Drama | Thriller

Tagline:

Difference between dead and life

Plot:

A freak accident brings together a critically ill mathematician (Penn), a grieving mother (Watts) and a born-again ex-con (Del Toro).

Plot Keywords:

Faith | Mathematician | Guilt | Ex Convict | Born Again

Awards:

Nominated for 2 Oscars. Another 20 wins & 34 nominations

Cast

Sean Penn	...	Paul Rivers
Naomi Watts	...	Cristina Peck
Danny Huston	...	Michael
Carly Nahon	...	Cathy
Claire Pakis	...	Laura
Benicio Del Toro	...	Jack Jordan
Nick Nichols	...	Boy
Charlotte Gainsbourg	...	Mary Rivers
John Rubinstein	...	Gynecologist
Eddie Marsan	...	Reverend John
Loyd Keith Salter	...	Fat Man
Antef A. Harris	...	Basketball Guy
Melissa Leo	...	Marianne Jordan
Marc Musso	...	Freddy (as Marc Thomas Musso)
Teresa Delgado	...	Gina

MPAA:

Rated R for language, sexuality, some violence and drug use.

Runtime:

124 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital

Certification:

USA:R (certificate #40185) | Portugal:M/16 | Malaysia:(Banned) | Argentina:16 | Australia:MA | Brazil:16 | Canada:13+ (Quebec) | Canada:18A | Chile:14 | Finland:K-15 | France:-12 | Germany:12 | Hong Kong:III | Iceland:16 | Ireland:18 | Japan:PG-12 | Mexico:B15 | Netherlands:16 | New Zealand:R16 | Norway:15 | Philippines:R-18 | South Korea:18 | Spain:18 | Sweden:11 | Switzerland:16 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:16 (canton of Vaud) | UK:15 | Singapore:R(A) | Singapore:M18 (DVD rating)

Filming Locations:

Memphis, Tennessee, USA

Company:

This Is That Productions

Trivia:

Katrin Cartlidge originally cast as Marianne but she died shortly before filming was to start. Melissa Leo, who had previously auditioned for the role, was invited to audition again and won the part.

Goofs:

Factual errors: When Cristina Peck wants to give blood to help Paul Rivers, a nurse uses a blood collection system called Vacutainer to collect her blood. This system uses the power of vacuum to collect blood. To do this a vein has to be pricked with the needle and then a tube must be pricked too with the other side of the needle then the vacuum does the rest. In the film we see that the tube is already pricked to the needle, so it wouldn't work.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Michael: Check, please.
Cathy: Look Daddy, a volcano.
[Cathy blows bubbles into her soft drink]
Michael: It's very pretty. Drink up your volcano. All right. We're going. Mommy's waiting.
Cathy: Daddy, please. Just one more minute.

Movie Connections:

References Trois couleurs: Bleu (1993)

Soundtrack:

Low Rider

Absorbing and powerful direction & acting; the story structure was less than great

Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu made a well-deserved leap into the renown film-making pool with Amores Perros, and his follow up 21 Grams shows him with plenty of talent to spare. He also gets three (or more, depends on how effective one thinks the supporting performance were) forceful, compelling performances out of Sean Penn, Benicio Del-Torro, and Naomi Watts. They're involved in three interlocking stories- Penn as a mathematician with a rottening health and a near-rottening relationship; Del-Torro's found Jesus Christ after being in and out of jail for part of his life; Watts is a house-wife who may have some deep troubles within her mind. Each of the three leads doesn't go for cheap drama, and each one plunges the depths of their own abilities to find truths that might not be possible with lesser material or a lesser director. I won't say much more about the stories, however I do have something to say about the structure of the film. The script brings some mesmerizing scenes, ones with great tragedy that bring out a viewer's compassion.

Never-the-less, there was something about the structure that I didn't think was all that great. In films like Once Upon a Time in America, Reservoir Dogs, and even Memento, the scrambled story structure had a purpose, adding appropriate twists and turns for the audience. 21 Grams (like Amores Perros in a sense) has that non-linear basis to it too, and sometimes it works for the audience to react. But I think there would be a lot more power to how these characters' fates and tragedies unfold if it was told linearly from start to finish. In many moments in the film I found myself knowing a little too much before a particular scene unfolded, or I found myself guessing about something that I didn't need to (one of the points of non-linear storytelling is answers first, questions later). It wasn't an aspect that made the film bad, yet the stock that writer Guillermo Arriaga and director Inarritu put into this structure over interlocking the stories in order, or perhaps telling each story separately, is the film's only drawback.