21 Grams

Plot synopsis:
The story is told in a non-linear manner. The following is a chronological summary of the plot:
Jack Jordan is a former convict who is using his new-found religious faith to recover from drug addiction and alcoholism. Paul Rivers is a mathematics professor with a dedicated wife, Mary Rivers, and a fatal heart condition. Unless he receives a new heart from an organ donor, he will not live longer than one month. Paul's wife wants him to donate his sperm so she can have his baby even if he dies. Cristina Peck is a recovering drug addict and now lives a normal suburban life with a supportive husband and two children. She is a loving mother and active swimmer who has left her days of drugs and booze behind. These three separate stories/characters become tied together one evening 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 by the loss and returns to drugs and alcohol. Paul is eager to begin normal life again, but he hesitantly agrees to his wife's idea of surgery and artificial insemination as a last-ditch effort to get pregnant. During consultations with a doctor before the surgery, Paul learns that his wife had undergone an abortion after they had separated in the past. Angered, Paul ends the relationship. He becomes very inquisitive about whose heart he has. He learns from a private detective that the heart belonged to Cristina's husband and begins to follow the widowed Cristina around town.
Jack is stricken with guilt following the accident and starts using drugs again. Despite his wife's protests to keep quiet and conceal his guilt, Jack tells her that his "duty is to God" and turns himself in. While incarcerated, he claims that God had betrayed him, loses his will to live and tries unsuccessfully to commit suicide. He is released after Cristina declines to press charges, as she realizes that putting Jack in prison will not bring her family back. When Jack is released, he is unable to reincorporate himself into normal family life, and instead leaves home to live as a transient, working in manual labor.
Paul finds an opportunity to meet Cristina and eventually reveals how the two of them are connected. She is initially furious and forces him out, but quickly reconsiders. Desperately needing one another, they continue their relationship. Though Paul has a new heart, his body is rejecting the transplant and his outlook is grim. As Cristina begins to dwell more on her changed life and the death of her girls, she becomes obsessed with exacting revenge on Jack. She goads Paul into agreeing to murder him.
Paul meets with the private detective who originally found Cristina for him. He tells Paul that Jack is living in a motel and sells Paul a gun. Paul and Cristina check into the motel where Jack is staying. When Jack is walking alone, Paul grabs him and leads him out into a clearing at gunpoint with the intention of killing him. However, Paul is unable to kill Jack, who himself is confused, shaking and pleading during the event. Paul tells Jack to "just disappear," then returns to the motel, lying to Cristina about Jack's death. Later that night, while they are sleeping, Paul and Cristina are awakened by a noise outside their door. It's Jack, who, still consumed by guilt, orders Paul to kill him and end his misery. There is a struggle, and Cristina blind-sides Jack and begins to beat him with a wooden lamp. Paul collapses, gets hold of the gun, and shoots himself.
Jack and Cristina rush Paul to the hospital. Jack tells the police that he was the one who shot Paul, but is released when his story cannot be confirmed. Paul dies, and the conflict between Cristina and Jack remains unresolved (they meet in the waiting room after Paul's death; if they converse, it is not shown). When she offers to donate blood for Paul in the hospital, Cristina learns that she is pregnant. After Paul's death, Cristina is seen tentatively preparing for the new child in one of her daughter's bedrooms, which she had previously been unable to enter after her daughter's death. Jack is shown returning to his family.

Tags: suspenseful, boring, murder, realism, depressing, psychological, dramatic, flashback, romantic, melodrama, tragedy, revenge, storytelling

Review:
It's like seeing a gigantic jigsaw puzzle gradually pieced together.Unlike many other films that use this sort of device, "21 Grams" is a character drama, not a psychological thriller.
Sean Penn plays a 40-something man with a failing heart, Naomi Watts plays a young woman facing great tragedy, and Benicio Del Toro plays an ex-con consumed by guilt.
A movie directed in inimitable style, Inarritu's 21 Grams is a provocative, deeply moving filmic work that explores several fundamental questions: What is a life, what is its value, and can we place a value on it?
The performances breathe further life into the series of events that 21 Grams attempts to chronicle.By the film's ending, the entire tale of what has transpired is revealed to the viewer.
I'm actually the opposite of a drama fan- but this movie really touched me, and although it's quite tough to take in, I loved it.I think above all, one has to bow to Guillermo Arriaga, the writer, as "21 Grams" features probably the best script I've ever seen.
Usually in these episode movies everything comes together at once somewhere in the middle of the film, but in "21 Grams" the viewer puts the pieces together one after another- like a jigsaw puzzle, and every bit as satisfying when everything's completed.
Sean Penn, Naomi Watts and Benicio del Toro are delivering the most convincing acting performance I've ever witnessed.
Like when Christina (Watts) screams at Paul (Penn) trying to get rid of all of her anger, frustration, grief and hate: I usually think these emotional outbursts don't seem real on screen, but in this movie it is just deeply touching.
Sean Penn is always good, Benicio Del Toro solidifies his Oscar, and Naomi Watts is the big talent to watch.
But in the case of this film, I couldn't see how telling the story in such a broken way was supposed to add anything; and the fact that most of the leading characters possess a death wish (or at least, very little will to go on living) hardly aided my emotional involvement.
The pretentious voice-over from Sean Penn's character that ends the film (and accounts for its title) felt to me like a desperate (and failed) attempt to inject some meaning into a movie strangely devoid of it.That said, the acting is good, and the film is undoubtedly skilfully made.
Iñárritu may not answer that question directly, but he does indirectly answer the question darkly and beautifully in 21 Grams.21 Grams tells the story of three lives brought together by tragedy: the life of a very sick man (Penn), a mother who has lost much (Watts), and a Christian who has recently reformed his ways (Del Toro).
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.
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.
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).
The story is good, the filming is good, the acting is good, but there is still SOMETHING missing for this movie to be added to my hall of all time faves.
i am also not against non-linear time-lines in general, which my affinity for lynch is proof enough i guess.the problem is, that once a particular element gets overused within a movie then it might start to wreck some of the more interesting parts.as i already pointed out, this is a solid piece of work and i am also not opposed to the genre, but you got use everything in moderation.
Director Alejandro González Iñárritu is visually addicted to squalor (he sees the lonely beauty of it) and his film is unrelentingly gritty; this ambiance is matched by the performances of all three principles (Naomi Watts, Sean Penn, and Benicio Del Toro), each of whom perform totally without vanity.
Don't peep at the lives of these people...they are really nothing characters who are not sure what to do and who are jumping thoughts per second...Poor story,poor screenplay Acting,direction and editing are not to be blamed for this disaster.
if you want something interesting like that, see Memento, Pulp Fiction, or Run Lola Run.The camera use was handheld, grainy, with filters, which made me think immediately of traffic, but point is, its use was fun regulated here and was more distracting because I kept thinking of what the director wanted the movie to be.The acting was good (by Penn and Watts), but Del Toro looks awkward and his accent was horrible (is that his real voice...
If you're like everyone else and automatically love any "Hey, look at me, I'm different" movie that is overly artsy, overly depressing, gimmicky, and devoid of any interesting or sympathetic characters or plot then you'll probably find this movie to be "powerful" and proclaim it to be one of the all-time best.
etc...you just view everything with a detached confusion, and you're left outraged that you lost any opportunity to connect with the story and the fine acting because of the pretentious, heavy-handed direction.(I never considered myself a great fan of Clint Eastwood, but compare this movie's narrative to that of Mystic River.
In Grams, you have none of that --you are just jerked around, maybe to hide how ridiculous the story would be if presented more conventionally?)To this point, I have seen no other film(s) by this director.
The non-linear projection also heightens the plot and irony of Pulp Fiction.In Grams, it felt like the scenes were shot in whatever order (that's ok), and than the director numbered them, and threw them into a hat for the order they would be presented to the audience.
I'm sorry, but is it audience participation when the questions you are compelled to ask are on the order of: "When did this happen?"  "Is that the same lady?"  "Did she change her mind?"  "Why did she change her mind?"   "When will this pretentious exercise be over?"Speaking for myself, this movie was a terrible misfire, and the directing style robbed us of any chance to connect with the characters and the themes he was trying to present.
By the time we get to Penn's ending narration (a la American Beauty?), I just laughed at the pretentiousness, and almost wanted to cry about all of the lost opportunities to make a decent film that you cared about.Somehow, 21 Grams made imdb's top 250 of all time.
In some instances, I'm willing to be force fed garbage to get to the meat of a flick, and I've actually ended up loving movies I initially hated.Not this time.I usually try hard to see what someone has tried to convey, and if there is a good message anywhere there, I can find it without a lot of coaxing, but this movie was a big fat waste of time in my DVD player.Even my popcorn and snacks couldn't get me into it.I don't know what the NY Times is using for their rating system, but I did NOT think this was the "crowning work of this year." I thought it was probably the worst example of movie making of this year.
I decided to stay with it and was partially rewarded in that I witnessed some incredibly good acting from all three leads in particular Naomi Watts who was fantastic & Sean Penn was also excellent, Benicio Del Toro turned in another good performance, and the story all came together in the end.
For the most part I like Sean Penn, Naomi Watts, and Benicio Del Toro and I even felt they did a good job in this film, but I just didn't like the movie.
This film was a complete disappointment and a waste of my time.I watched this film because I think Sean Penn is a good actor and I enjoyed Mystic River.
After what seemed like much more than two hours of plodding (and heavily foreshadowed)plot twists and wooden performances, we began to wonder if this was a very bad spoof of pretentious artsy films (made by directors who expect us to take them as seriously as they take themselves), instead of just a very bad movie.
He gives life to this Jack Jordan, a loser, who has seen the light and is trying to redeem himself.Much has been said about Sean Penn's acting in this film, but his Paul Rivers is an enigma.
Mr. Penn is very good in the movie, but my feeling was that we never knew him, or perhaps the other characters are stronger and therefore one's reaction to this tormented soul he plays.Let's hope the team responsible for this film won't make us wait very long for their next collaboration.
The pieces are continually being put in place but until it is complete you don't know exactly what you're looking at.I won't synopsize the story in any way because putting it together for yourself is half of the film's appeal.
I got glimpses of interesting ideas throughout but the ending didn't really hammer home any kind of revelation for me.The three principle actors (Sean Penn, Benicio del Toro & Naomi Watts) do a fine job of bringing the film to life with vivid, passionate performances.
Naomi Watts, Sean Penn and Benicio Del Toro are examples of how well good actors/ actresses can collaborate when they are giving the write material and the right direction.
The film starts of a little confusing for the audience, not much is revealed because of the non- chronological way the story is told.
By the second act of the film we get a look into the character's lives, so without spoiling anything critical let me start by saying that Naomi Watts's character, Christina Peck is a woman with a troubled past involving drug addiction, married with children.
Benicio Del Toro's character, Jack Jordan, is an ex-con who aims to reform himself through Jesus and God. Sean Penn's character, Paul RIvers, is a mathematician whose wife is trying to get pregnant whilst he has only a short time to live.
I loved "Memento." The nonlinear storytelling was key to the story itself and as a result complimented the overall nature of the film; however, "21 Grams" features the same style of nonlinear narrative without having an actual point.
The movie plods so much that it actually slows down real time, the story jumps around like a frog on speed and the soundtrack, if you can call it that, didn't take more than 1 guitarist recording some feedback from his guitar while he was taking a nap on it.3/10 for the otherwise fine editing and acting of a pretentious mess..
Although the story is good, it is impossible to ignore that fact that it is the acting that makes this film as impacting as it is.Penn is tremendous.
Acting is definitely one of the strongest points of this film, as each character of Watts, Del Toro, and Penn are gripping and real in a grisly sort of harshness only a truly talented troupe could typify.
Sean Penn is strong as always, Naomi Watts is unbelievable to watch as a woman falling back into a life she thought she had left, and Benicio Del Toro gives the best performance as an ex-con who has turned to God for redemption but finds it hard to live that out.What really gets under the skin of the audience here and keeps you from understanding and ultimately appreciating this movie is the plot structure.
Respect due to Sean Penn , Naomi Watts , and Del Toro for giving burning performances that stay fixed on the mind for long time after to come , the film never tore away from its theme at all which made it even better and not confusing at all but however it also created such a huge level of empathy that I personally found it very difficult to pick a favourite character - NOT MANY FILMS CAN DO THAT .
They are, Paul Rivers (Sean Penn - Mystic River) a terminally-ill patient in desperate need of a heart transplant to live, Cristina Peck (Naomi Watts - Mulholland Drive) a recovering junkie turned happy suburban SUV-driving housewife, and Jack Jordan (Benico Del Toro - Traffic) an ex-con who is now a born-again Christian and believes God has a specific plan for him.
Cristina decides she wants to exact revenge on the man who took her family away from her, so Paul and her go on a mission to do that, while Jack re-examines his life as a born again and falls out of touch with god.As crafty and fabulous as '21 Grams' is, a great deal of people won't care for the film's jumbled storyline that jumps from past to present to future non-stop.
Thanks to a thoughtful script and bold and highly competent direction, the jumbled scenes here involving a teacher waiting for a heart transplant (Penn, more compelling and real here than in his over-the-top scenery-chewing Oscar winning turn in "Mystic River"), a Bible-thumping ex-con (Del Toro excellent as always), a tortured housewife grieving the loss of her family (Watts in a powerhouse performance), and the tragic car crash that brings them together, build up to a crescendo of suspense where sin, redemption, love, loss, and hatred are shown in all their gritty, hazy, and messed-up glory.
This is definitely a movie to savor watching at home over and over as each viewing will add a deeper level of understanding.What makes "21 Grams" so special aside from the awesome performances (especially from Naomi Watts, my favorite actress since her career making turn in "Mulholland Drive") and innovative story-telling technique are its quiet scenes of stark emptiness (the abandoned leaf-blower scene) and frank intimacy (any of the love scenes) that often become blurred and interchangeable (witness the loneliness of Clea Duval as she quietly weeps in the background while her sister breaks down wailing upon news of her children's death or Penn having a post-coital smoke at the edge of the bed while Watts lies naked beside him).
It must be at least 6:15.IT WAS 5 O' CLOCK.It is a real sign of bad filmmaking when Inarritu has this caliber of cast - Penn, Del Toro, and Watts - and still can't make a good movie out of it.
They are Paul (Sean Penn), Cristina (Naomi Watts), and Jack (Benicio Del Toro).
These people are all connected in some way or another, but to reveal the source of their crossing paths would strip the film of the pleasures you won't have.Despite being one of the most depressing movies I have ever seen, 21 Grams is still one of the best acted, bringing together a magnificently emotive ensemble and giving them what are perhaps the most rewarding (at least to watch) roles of their careers.
I sort of watched this movie not expecting much, the movie started off with bits of different scenes which didn't mean anything,it was only after seeing the second half that woke me up.The story is just bout three flowed characters that connect in one accidentNaomi watts pulls her best performance till date, Penn does well too and benelucio del tire is just icing in the cake.the film is not the most entertaining or fast paced movies but the direction is good and is by far the most touching movie i have watcheda must see for movie lovers 10/10.
Superb acting by the 3 main leads in the struggle to measure the value of life and the weight of death.Must watch for those who love watching new style of film-making & story-telling and not recommended for those who don't like complex structure & non-linear narration..
21 Grams features performances by Sean Penn, Benecio Del Torro and Naomi Watts that are remarkable not only for their believability, but also for the range of gut wrenching emotion they bring to bear.
21 Grams features performances by Sean Penn, Benecio Del Torro and Naomi Watts that are remarkable not only for their believability, but also for the range of gut wrenching emotion they bring to bear.
The supporting cast is nothing short of miraculous (notably Clea Duvall, Charlotte Gainsborg and Melissa Leo) and completes a wonderfully complex series of portraits of the three main characters.Like few films in recent memory, 21 Grams fully reveals what it is to be human in the clutches of life's most challenging moments..
The supporting cast is nothing short of miraculous (notably Clea Duvall, Charlotte Gainsborg and Melissa Leo) and completes a wonderfully complex series of portraits of the three main characters.Like few films in recent memory, 21 Grams fully reveals what it is to be human in the clutches of life's most challenging moments..
Great performances from both Sean Penn as Paul Rivers and Naomi Watts as Cristina Peck, they both deserved all the praise they got!
In the beginning, you don't understand anything, you have to pay attention to the movie, there are three connected stories, a dramatic accident and charismatic characters, you just have to follow the plot.
Although the film requires attention to put the story together, the characters are portrayed so well and the scenes and dialog are so riveting that it comes together as intended: The movie provides a wonderful glimpse of the many sides of humans, our interconnectedness, the unpredictability of everyday life, and the mysteries of the soul which for all cause wonderment.
For me, the scene that really nails the movie is towards the end where Cristina (Noami Watts) and Jack (Benicio del Toro) exchange a glance and you understand she has been able to forgive him, and he feels some kind of reprieve from his living hell.