Product Description: A VIOLENT CAR ACCIDENT UNEXPECTEDLY THROWS TOGETHER THE LIVES OF A COLLEGE PROFESSOR, AN EX-CON & A YOUNG MOTHER WITH A RECKLESS PAST. THE CORSSING OF THEIR PATHS TAKES THEM THROUGH THE HEIGHTS OF LOVE, THE DEPTHS OF REVENGE & THE PROMISE OF REDEMPTION.
Amazon.com: Sean Penn and Benecio Del Toro, two of the most gripping actors around, play wildly different men linked through a grieving woman (Naomi Watts, Mulholland Drive, The Ring) in 21 Grams. Del Toro (Traffic, The Usual Suspects) 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 (Mystic River, Dead Man Walking) 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
A script in search of a real life The script is a soap opera. And the slicing of the chronology was an attempt to hide that fact. I also hated all the gratuitous and melodramatic guy fights, all the guns, all the blood. Fine actors (as these actors all are) are too often put in the position (or put themselves in the position!!!) of having to work with really awful scripts. Melissa Leo's performance really shines, and seems to have been almost totally ignored in both the handing out of awards and in so many of the reviews of this theatrical and horribly manipulative movie.
Bleak and depressing look at bleak and depressing indiviuals The color, backdrops, pace and acting (yes, the acting was very good) lent to a very "downer" of a movie. Sure, I've watched a lot of movies that have had ongoing depressing scenes that ended in a sad story. Well, this is one of them.
Sean Penn, Benicio Del Toro and Naomi Watts give their best to a movie that shows the down-trodden lives of people who've hit bottom in some very tragic circumstances. You get a taste of betrayal, deception, lies and confusion, all rolled into one.
I really don't know how to truly classify this movie other than that I would never want to watch it again. Yes, it is a "thought-provoking" movie with some very emotional and touching moments, but there is no reward in the end.
Superbly acted, moving from beginning to end The story line reveal itself by a series of multiple flashes that all add up to make a very compelling cinematic experience. Touching, moving human drama.
Alejandro's follow up to "Amores Perros" I'm hard put whether to give this alternately depressing and enlightening film a 3 or 4 star rating, but closer to a 4 since the three leads are superb and this film has more substance than a lot of the films currently out there. In a nutshell, it tells of 3 people interlinked to a tragedy involving a car crash (in narrative, very similiar to the director's first, "Amores Perros") and how they eventually finally confront each other in an dynamic finale. Sean Penn must have had a great year, acting-wise, since this film and "Mystic River" netted him an Academy Award, a Golden Globes, and Best Actor by the National Board of Review (a poll by all the leading film critics in the country). Watts and del Toro are also superb in their pivotal roles and the title itself refers to the weight applied to one's life when it begins!!
Sean Penn's best. This movie get's 4.5/5 from me, but I gave it 5 to benefit its overall rating.
21 Grams is an extraordinary film, and I'm surprised I had not heard of it before I saw it, as it totes some of the best performances I've seen of Naomi Watts, Benicio Del Toro, and especially Sean Penn.
This is one of the only movies that has truly emotionally affected me... I finished this movie emotionally worn out. Its story and art direction are flawless, and the editing makes everything work: it's done in a Pulp Fiction style, where the pieces of the story are shown out of order and it doesn't fit together perfectly until the very end.
The .5 off is because there are still a couple scenes that are not perfect.
In conclusion this is an excellent film that I would recommend to anyone who doesn't just like blockbuster action movies. I'm eager to see the director's other work.
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