21 Grams

Scribe's Review:

Wow. This one has it all.

The basic idea, that an entire human life can be measured in 21 grams, (the exact amount of weight one loses at the point of death) is used as a metaphor for a lack of fulfillment, loss and vengeance in this masterful piece of cinematic art.

The plot unweaves in a non-sequential style that makes what might have been a laborious viewing riveting and fascinating. Much like the underrated Vanilla Sky, the truth at the heart of the tale is more important than the moment we learn it.

Without giving away too much, Sean Penn is the recipient of a heart transplant that causes him to seek out the anonymous donor family's identity. What he eventually finds is a grieving widow unable to move on after the tragic and accidental death of her husband and children. Naomi Watts stars as the widow and is as compelling as she may ever be in her career. Benicio Del Toro is the reformed criminal turned Born Again Christian turned fallen and broken man in yet another in a long line of incredible performances from this Hispanic James Dean. Sean Penn's skills as an actor just seem to improve with time until he now moprhs into his characters with little apparent effort.

The real message of the film, how life can be so completely wasted in such a short amount of time, is handled with such skillful subtletly that one cannot help but walk away affected.

****** out of *****

Green's Review:

"How many lives do we live? How many times do we die? They say we all lose 21 grams... at the exact moment of our death. Everyone. And how much fits into 21 grams? How much is lost? When do we lose 21 grams? How much goes with them? How much is gained? How much is gained? Twenty-one grams. The weight of a stack of five nickels. The weight of a hummingbird. A chocolate bar. How much did 21 grams weigh?"

Here we have the story of three very different individuals whose lives connect in an instant and are forever linked and changed in that very instant. Paul Rivers (Sean Penn) is a man with a heart problem who gains a new lease on life. Cristina Peck (Naomi Watts) is a wife whose family is suddenly and irreversibly ripped away from her. Jack Jordan (Benicio Del Toro) - is an ex-con struggling with his faith and a great deal of sorrow and guilt for what he has done. Jordan accidentally runs over and kills Peck's husband and two young daughters, then alienates himself from his family and faith, attempting to cope with the accidental murder of three people he killed and never knew. Rivers benefits from a heart transplant made possible by the death of Peck's husband, then breaks the rules and finds out who donated his new heart and ends up falling in love with the dead man's wife, who understandably is having a hard time coping with her loss. Peck seeks revenge on the killer of her family and finds herself, reluctantly at first, falling in love with Rivers.

The premise of the film is compelling and full of raw emotion. The stars performances are deep and haunting. The script and its execution, however, leaves much to be desired and is ultimately the downfall of this movie. There's simply too much going on all at once to properly develop all of the characters and examine their emotions. The shift in time line going from present to past and past to present seemingly without rhyme or reason makes the story choppy and hard to follow, especially in places where the film drags. If the story was told in more of a linear fashion then the script's deficiencies would be less noticeable and might even be overcome by the performances of Penn, Watts and Del Toro.

The movie clocks in at 125 minutes which seemed too long, yet I felt disjointed and unsatisfied at the end of the film. To me there was more story that could have been told and there should have been a more satisfying way to wrap it up.

*** out of *****