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Amazon.co.uk Review
Sean Penn and Benecio Del Toro, two of the most gripping actors around, play wildly different men linked through a grieving woman (Naomi Watts) in 21 Grams. Del Toro delves deep into the role of an ex-con turned born-again Christian, a deeply conflicted man struggling to set right a terrible accident, even at the expense of his family. Penn captures a cynical, philandering professor in dire need of a heart transplant, which he gets from the death of Watts' husband. 21 Grams slips back in forth in time, creating an intricate emotional web out of the past and the present that slowly draws these three together; the result is remarkably fluid and compelling. The movie overreaches for metaphors towards the end, but that doesn't erase the power of the deeply felt performances. --Bret Fetzer
Product Description
Actors: Array
Director: Alejandro González Iñárritu
Manufacturer: MGM
Director: Alejandro González Iñárritu
Manufacturer: MGM
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
19 of 20 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
Not many films can take a gritty subject, tell it in a series of harsh flashbacks, film it with a bleak landscape and make it work. Director Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu accomplishes this great task with the help of immensely talented actors like Naomi Watts, Sean Penn and Benicio Del Toro. Del Toro is frightening as the hard edged born-again Christian who accidentally commits the worst of crimes. Watts is heartbreaking as the victim who buries her sorrows in drugs and alcohol. Penn excels in subtly as the man who receives Watts deceased husbands heart and falls in love with her. It's almost too much emotion to take in at once. All three actors are at their peak and Inarritu plays them off eachother without pretense or falsehood. Each character is decisively different yet all have one horrible thing in common. Inarritu tells this tale in an original, highly edited manner with flashbacks and foreshadowing that never confuses. The film is actually amazingly interesting in its ability to keep scenes tight and emotions as raw as possible. It is a rare achievement and this film would have received more accolades if the material were simply more upbeat. That's a tragedy in itself.
19 of 21 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
Based on a strikingly similar premise to Iñárritu's first film "Amores Perros", 21 Grams follows three characters whose lives are bound together by a fatal car crash in which a man and his two young daughters are killed. The three characters the film focuses on are the wife and mother of those killed (Naomi Watts), the ex-convict and born-again Christian who caused the accident (Benicio del Toro) and the man whose life was saved when he received a transplant of the heart of the man who was killed (Sean Penn). The first of this film's main virtues are precisely these actors, all of whom are amongst the most gifted and brilliant actors currently working in Hollywood - 21 Grams is a masterclass in acting. The second of its main virtues is that it is also a masterclass in direction. The story is not told chronologically, but follows what Iñárritu describes as the "emotional logic" of the story. We cut between the three main characters and jump back and forth in time, gradually piecing together both what has happened and how the three, initially totally separate-seeming, strands of the plot are connected. This technique, though bold, is not all that unusual in itself, but what is unusual is the way that Iñárritu makes it work so brilliantly - he keeps you guessing and involved, but never confuses you. This is a genuinely outstanding film.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
This is a very good movie, but was made unnecessarily complicated and confusing by the way the plot alternates between characters and different moments in time. I am not new to facing this technique, which has been used extensively by one of my favorite directors, Quentin Tarantino, and some of the writers I enjoy most, Stephen King and Mario Vargas Llosa. However, in the Tarantino movies and the King books I found enough information to make it relatively easy to follow the events and time periods to which they refer to. I found extremely hard to do this in "21 Grams", as happened when I read the great novel "Conversation in the Cathedral" by Vargas Llosa. After the first thirty minutes in the movie, it all starts to make sense and I was able to enjoy the movie. However, this production could have received five stars instead of four if the beginning was not so tangled.
Paul (Sean Penn) is dying and needs a heart transplant urgently, while his wife Mary is trying to get pregnant before it is too late. Jack (Benicio Del Toro) is an ex-alcoholic and ex-convict, who has recently been fired from his job in a Country Club because of his appearance. When Jack accidentally runs over a man and his two kids, Paul gets his transplant, and the destiny of the two men and the widow become inexorably intertwined. From this point on, we witness the emotions and actions of the survivor, the victim and the man who cannot help feeling guilty.
It is interesting that Del Toro received an academy nomination for this movie and Sean Penn did not. In my opinion, the latter shines brighter and his talent lead to justly winning an Oscar for "Mystic River". "21 Grams" is a movie that deserves to be seen, and I hope that if you find yourself frustrated at the beginning because it is hard to follow, you will hang in there until everything makes sense. I know you will not be disappointed.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Intense, intense....
Watching '21 Grams' is to have heavy drama pushed up your nostrils and coming out through your ears, but if that's how you like your movies, you're gonna like this one - a... Read more
Published 1 month ago by Tim Kidner
Some fantastic acting involved.
A quick overview -
Its not about drugs - the 21 grams reference is about something else.
Cut up story line like Pulp Fiction
Seemingly unrelated characters... Read more
Its not about drugs - the 21 grams reference is about something else.
Cut up story line like Pulp Fiction
Seemingly unrelated characters... Read more
Published 5 months ago by Mr. D. Thompson
A tad depressing
Yes, the acting is impressive. Yes, the direction is very good. Yes, the editing is original, ignoring the order of sequential time in which to tell its story, yet still holding... Read more
Published 22 months ago by H. Carlton
"It all weighs the same..."
We have never been short of life-combining melodramas and we are clearly spoilt here. Sean Penn is simply mesmerizing as an average man who gets involved with recently widowed... Read more
Published on 23 May 2010 by Master Ds Cholerton
Heavy weather
Overrated and needing a serious look in the mirror, 21 grams (2003) is a dark, depressing, and dull drama. Read more
Published on 24 Jan 2010 by Miami
back and forth, back and forth.. what is going on?
I was a bit confused with the way this was put together to start.
Each scene in the film is unrelated (it seems) to the previous scene, flitting from past - present. Read more
Each scene in the film is unrelated (it seems) to the previous scene, flitting from past - present. Read more
Published on 16 Jan 2010 by Debra Yates
Over-indulgently miserable, lacking in subtlety
"21 grams" revolves around 3 central characters, with overlapping story arcs. Naomi Watts plays a young mother struck by tragedy, who enters a self-destructive spiral. Read more
Published on 7 Dec 2008 by Síog
WHAT A FILM !!!!!!
this film is a amazing i thought it would be some soppy chick flick but far from it. great acting great story and amzing how the film is put together. Read more
Published on 13 May 2008 by Robert Gibbons
Excellent if downbeat
I have to admit I haven't been the biggest fan of Sean Penn. Much of the time he appears to overact, or he seems to be pretty well typecast as an unsavoury character. Read more
Published on 17 Feb 2008 by Ben
too heavy even for the wife
I prefer mindless action films and thrillers but the wife likes to be emotionally involved, so this was her choice. But we both agreed to turn it off after an hour. Read more
Published on 27 Jan 2008 by Prof P. Curwen
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