21 Grams Review
by David N. Butterworth (dnb AT dca DOT net)January 5th, 2004
21 GRAMS
A film review by David N. Butterworth
Copyright 2003 David N. Butterworth
***1/2 (out of ****)
Alejandro González Iñárritu's first film, the Spanish-language "Amores Perros" ("Love's a Bitch") featured three intricately woven storylines revolving
around a fatal car crash. His English-language debut, the electrifying "21 Grams," also features three intricately woven storylines revolving around a fatal car crash.
Critics may argue that by that observation alone the Mexican director hasn't
grown much, hasn't pushed himself other than to repeat his previous successes ("Amores Perros" won the Critics Week Grand Prize and Young Critics Award at Cannes that year, plus received Academy Award® and Golden Globe nominations for Best Foreign Language Film).
And then they should watch the movie.
In a number of ways "21 Grams" is a completely different experience. It feels more personal (perhaps the lack of subtitles helps), more mature, with an uncompromising depth of focus that successfully details loss, retribution, pain, forgiveness, hate, inconsolable grief, acceptance, and the belief that "life goes on."
Where the two films, both expertly written by Guillermo Arriaga, overlap are in the acting departments and in how the film is structured. Sean Penn, Benicio Del Toro, and Naomi Watts all give remarkable performances--watch for a slew of nominations come Oscar® time--and Iñárritu once again using a non linear methodology that constantly hints at what is to come but not enough for us to piece everything together until the closing moments.
Penn is a critically ill mathematics professor awaiting a heart transplant,
Del Toro is a born again ex-con who's involved in a freak accident, and Watts is a drug-addicted housewife whose family life is suddenly and violently shattered.
At once challenging, powerful, and tragic, "21 Grams" (the title refers to the weight a body loses when life passes) proves that "Amores Perros" was no fluke, and that Alejandro González Iñárritu is a force to be reckoned with.
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David N. Butterworth
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