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Yar, you be here: 21 Grams > Customer Reviews 21 Grams Customer Reviews (46 - 48 of 78 Reviews)Beautiful Acting
I had a little trouble following this one at first, but once I got into it I was hooked. It was so real (like Traffic) but so personal. Watts really was strong here, but so was the rest of the cast (Penn etc). I can't really describe this film in words because it was so choppy, but I can say that it is a definite must see for dramatic lovers. Yowks! Spectacular.
21 Grams is based on the quasi-theological calculation that at the moment of death, the human body loses exactly 21 grams of weight, and that is said to be the weight of the soul. Sean Penn (not to downplay the stellar performances of Benecio Del Toro and Naomi Watts) plays maybe the role of his life as a dying man in desperate need of a heart transplant. Del Toro plays a criminal who has found his salvation in a literal and scary interpretation of Scripture, the love of a good woman, and his 2 children. Watts plays a woman with a sketchy past who has come out on top, married a great guy, and given birth to 2 lovely little girls. Their lives intersect around a tragedy, and high art/high drama are the result when the three of them meet. Filmed in the fragmented, flashback within flashback style of Pulp Fiction, you have to keep watching on pure faith that it'll all make sense eventually - and it does, oh boy, it does. Don't miss this incredibly complex, heartbreaking, redemptive film. The "cutting edge techniques" spoiled a good story.
This film has several good things going for it. First, it has a good story. Second, it has really fine actors. Third, it has a director who has made a name for himself with cutting edge techniques. Put them all together and ... well ... maybe it works for some people. It only occasionally worked for me. It was the "cutting edge techniques" part that played around with the time frame of events that I found difficult to enjoy.
Even though Benico Del Toro had third billing, he stole the show. All the roles were difficult and complex, but his was probably the most challenging. He plays a ex-con who, when we first meet him, is now a church-going religious fanatic. He's changed his life and preaches the word of Jesus to everyone he meets. Sometimes he goes a little too far - like when his children are fighting and he makes his daughter allow his son to punch her again because he literally believes in the "turn the other cheek" philosophy - but we can all see he is trying to go straight and lead a good life. His wife, played by Melissa Leo is also great. She plays the part of a woman who has stuck by her man through all the bad times and now is trying desperately to support his religious streak and keep him out of jail.
Seam Penn plays the role of a dying man whose wife wants to have a baby. And Naomi Watts plays the role of a young widow who is going through severe depression when her family is killed in an accident.
A series of seemingly unrelated events brings all of these people's lives together. The result is high drama.
The director, Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, seems to have shot the film, cut it all to pieces, and let the audience see it a little at a time, and not at all in sequence. Little by little details were revealed that was supposed to flesh out the story. Well, sometimes they did and sometimes they didn't. All I knew is that I kept wishing the director would "get on with it". And since I had the luxury of watching the film on DVD and not in a theater, I was able to walk away from the screen and do stuff on my computer without having to concentrate too hard on the film as it just was taking too long to say something that had been already told before. Basically, by the time I had watched half the film, there were no more surprises, and I just didn't care.
Film buffs should see 21 Grams and, for that reason I'm glad I saw it. As I've said before, the performances are great and it's interesting to see new film techniques. The story is a depressing one however, so if you're looking for a "feel good" feeling, this is not the film for it.
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