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Movie Description
Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu (AMORES PERROS) directs this staggeringly intense drama concerning three families whose lives fatefully intertwine through a series of tragic events. With jumbled chronology that jumps from one shocking event to the next in an increasingly chaotic maelstrom, 21 GRAMS is relentlessly gritty in its content and its aesthetics. The title refers to the amount of weight that a human body loses at the moment of death, but the story begs the question: How much is gained?
Paul (Sean Penn) has less than a month to live, stalled on the waiting list for a heart transplant, and his wife (Charlotte Gainsbourg) is determined to get pregnant with his child before it's too late. Meanwhile, Cristina (Naomi Watts) is a happy mother with a loving husband and two daughters but she loses her family in an instant to an unpredictable accident. Finally, Jack (Benicio Del Toro) is an ex-con and born-again Christian struggling to support his wife and two children while battling his own guilty conscience. When these three parties come together, explosively, they make each other behave in impulsive, violent, and destructive ways. 21 GRAMS takes viewers on a jolting journey through sickness, suffering, morality, revenge, and last but not least, the sometimes welcome peace of death.
Industry Reviews
"...Inarritu cements his reputation as a boldly talented filmmaker with his first English-language project, 21 GRAMS..."
Variety - David Rooney (09/15/2003)
"...It's a startlingly crafted movie, with several extraordinary performances..."
Entertainment Weekly - Owen Gleiberman (11/21/2003)
"...The film is full of engagingly high-strung performances..."
Film Comment - Alissa Quart (11/01/2003)
"...There are few movie pleasures as satisfying as an actor soaring to meet the challenge of his or her gift. It's a pleasure that's delivered threefold in 21 GRAMS..."
Los Angeles Times - Manohla Dargis (11/21/2003)
"...That Inarritu shapes something redemptive out of blasted lives is proof that he is a filmmaker of rare and startling grace..."
Rolling Stone - Peter Travers (12/11/2003)
"...[A] complex, time-fractured narrative....The most shattering performance comes from Naomi Watts..."
Movieline - Stephen Farber (12/01/2003)
"This is cinematic art in its highest form."
USA Today - Claudia Puig (11/21/2003)
"[T]he film is a virtuoso accomplishment of construction and editing."
Chicago Sun-Times - Roger Ebert (11/26/2003)
"Inarritu remains primarily a poet of the visible world..."
Sight and Sound - Paul Julian Smith (03/01/2004)
"Watts and Del Toro - both Oscar-nominated for their roles - positively roar with restraint, while the lesser known Melissa Leo matches Benicio every step of the way..."
Total Film - Kevin Harley (04/01/2004)
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