21 Grams
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Movie Reviews of 21 Grams
Movie Review: Excellent; One of the year's best
Summary: 5 Stars
2003 belongs to Sean Penn. He gave two of the best performances of the year in two of the year's best movies, Mystic River (for which he won the Best Actor Oscar) and 21 Grams. 21 Grams, however, has gotten far less attention than Clint Eastwood's film. I, personally, find it the better of the two. It was directed by Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, director of the excellent Amores Perros from 2000, and it bears the mark of its skilled director. In 21 Grams, as in Amores Perros, Inarritu handles heavy subject matter - life, death, loss and regret, and weaves seperate storylines together. I don't want to talk about the story, but Sean Penn, Naomi Watts and Benicio Del Toro play three characters all connected by a tragic incident. The acting is uniformly excellent. The leads give three big staggering performances that are incredibly moving. Alejandro Inarritu does a solid job directing, giving the film a distinct look and feel that separates it from more mainstream fare. He has the potential to be a major director and I can't wait to see what he's doing for his next film. There has been some debate over whether or not it was necessary to tell the story out of chronological order. I don't think 21 Grams would be a lesser film if it were told in chronological order, but do I think it does contribute to feel of the movie. It gives us somewhat of a sense of confusion and helplessness like that of the characters'. I also like the way that the structure makes the film a series of individual moments without concern for time.
I feel that 21 Grams is one of the best movies of 2003. Anyone who is looking for a gripping, exhilarating, moving film experience need look no further. If you are looking for bland, mindless entertainment, this is not it. This is a powerful film of real emotional substance. It is not a "fun" movie. If you appreciate real filmmaking with brilliant and honest acting, 21 Grams will be a riveting, unforgettable experience.
Movie Review: Penn, Del Toro and Watts Set The Screen On Fire!
Summary: 5 Stars
'21 Grams' tells the complex interconnected story of how three lived intersect both tragically and redemtively following a car accident. Paul (Sean Penn; Mystic River) is a terminally ill math professor, in desperate need of a heart transplant. Christine (Naomi Watts; The Ring) is a former drug addict, whose just now getting clean -- with the help of her family. Jack (Benecio Del Toro; Traffic) is a born-again-Christian, who was an ex-convict, now preaching the Gospel to others. In a tragic car accident, all three of their lives will be forever touched. Jack is driving home from work when he fails to see a man with his two kids walking, he accidentally kills them. The family happens to belong to Christine, who just happens to be recovering from drugs. Then there is Paul, who just gets Christine's husbands heart. '21 Grams' power lies in it's acting, no lie there. Sure, it does have some kind of twist like 'Memento,' however, '21 Grams' is a much better film for many diffrent reasons. The main one: the acting. Benecio Del Toro lights up the screen as Jack. Some of his most powerful acting ever. If you thought his performance in 'Traffic' was powerful, you haven't seen nothing yet. Naomi Watts turns in a solid performance as a grieving widow, who loses both her spouse and her two children. Sean Penn turns in another Oscar-caliber performance as a terminally ill math professor, whose own life is in termoil with a unhappy marriage. All in all, '21 Grams' was shunned at the Oscars (Del Toro and Watts deserved their nominations, and above all deserved the Awards) for nominations in both Best Picture and Best Director (Alejandro González Iñárritu) -- not to mention the fact that Penn should've had TWO nominations for Best Actor (this and his win for 'Mystic River'.)2 Academy Award Nominations
Actor In A Supporting Role -- Benicio Del Toro {"Jack Jordan"}
Actress In A Leading Role -- Naomi Watts {"Cristina Peck")
Movie Review: So Mortal Be
Summary: 5 Stars
There are some movies that may not be pleasant to watch, but are very well made & should be experienced regardless.Many movies would fall under that category, "The Sweet Hereafter" & "Jacob's Ladder" come to mind.
"21 Grams" is a story of severe emotional weight.
The characters are confused, lost & grief stricken.
For these characters, as in reality, life-altering tragedy strikes like blind lightning. No cues, no heads-up or "brace yourself"...something unexpected & terrible happens, punching a hole into life, leaving people scrambling to make sense of their loss or guilt & fill that inner void with something, anything.
This is what good movie making should do; entertain while compelling the viwer to examine & question.
21 Grams accomplishes this more than effectively.
The story has the sort of resonating impact that any parent inherently feels when they hear a tragic 'news' story involving the loss of a child..people sympathize, but there's always that illusory membrane of disconnect; bad things happen to other people, not to me. 21 Grams takes away that necessary disconnect from the viewer & gives you a gutwrenching look into several lives woven together by happenstance? fate? divine intervention?..we all subjectively must decide.
We all hope to remain strangers to firsthand experience with emotional pain & soul sickness...yet, these aspects of ourselves & our existence are real; unfortunate events do occur, wrong choices are made, & as with any human conflict/misery, the characters in 21 Grams are left attempting to piece together the mysterious reasons for the events that have left their lives in ruins.
Blame the other guy? Blame yourself? Blame God?
21 Grams is such a powerful movie because it delves into many things we'd rather not think about. This movie shows how there are usually no clear right or wrong conclusions to be reached, only choices to be made & consequences to live with.
Movie Review: An outstanding movie
Summary: 5 Stars
Film and video are the most powerful media tools ever created. For the most part, though, these tools are mainly used to make entertainment that rarely causes our brains to actual think or our emotions to truly get into gear. In part, this may be caused by our instinctive suspicion of any outside force that can disrupt or challenge the way we think and feel. "21 Grams" is a force to be reckoned with. Watching it will not entertain you as much as it will shake you up mentally and emotionally. It is a brilliant example of the power a movie is capable of producing. The plot moves forward and backwards in time, but I found it very easy to follow.
The central characters are Paul [Sean Penn], a professor whose heart is literally giving out; Christina [Naomi Watts], a woman whose husband and two children are killed in a hit and run accident; and Jack [Benicio del Toro], a recovering alcoholic and born-again Christian, whose attempts to get his life together are wrecked when he accidentally runs over Christina's family with his truck. After this terrible event, a distraught Christina donates her brain-dead husband's heart. The recipient is Paul, who can not live without knowing whose heart he has. His investigation leads to the amazing intersection of the three characters' lives.
Director Inarritu is Mexican. He explored a similar theme in his brilliant and highly recommended "Amores Peros". [Note: Mexico produces some of the best movies on the planet.]
It is obvious that the cast related to the script. Penn and del Toro, as well as supporting players Charlotte Gainsborough and Melissa Leo, are brilliant. Penn's performance rivals the one he gave in "Mystic River". The world is lucky that he reneged on the promise he made several years ago to quit acting. Watts, however, is the real star of the picture. Whatever is beyond brilliant is what she is here. Hers is one of the greatest performances ever recorded on film.
Movie Review: The redemption in last instance
Summary: 5 Stars
This movie talks about contrasts, warmth against lack of expressiveness : the latinoamerican boundaries vs. the anglosaxon behavior : the whole conception about the basic requirements against the incomplet knowledge about his vital rank.There's a latinoamerican novel whose reading is very close related to 21 grams . I mean Rayuela from Julio Cortazar . You can read in a random order and the storytellnig is always perfect . Another important point to remark is the poem that Penn tells Naomi is from a living venezuelan poet Montejo .
This is a detor film . A crossroad picture which links three different lives , three different worlds , theree different fates in a dramatical fact.
The love appears as a happy son from the deepest regions from the tragedy and almost wins. The religion , the uncertainity about the life , the redemption , the memory , all that complicated puzzle is told with maestry , with poetic flowness , and accurate direction . The movie never falls in a melodramatic mood , it never let you down . There are always challenging and twists of fate who amazes the viewer through all the story.
Penn plays the most difficult role of his career. Naomi makes the grade as a character actress and Benicio del Toro gives a very difficult around a man who suffers a true metamorphosis.
The suggested omages , the clue shot about an empty swimming pool reveal the loneliness , the hopeless and the tragedy of that little town , with dark passages and a brilliant use of the color as an addittional actor.
This film is a step ahead in 2003 and one of the best and intelligent films made in Hollywood.
We really expect that this couple of director and guionist keep working together , 'because they have shown a new road and new possibilities of cinema expression.
A winner film!