Rating: 
Summary: A twisted tale of fate (or is it chance?)
Review: This is an engaging story which is really elevated by the cast. I can't think of another film with such great performances from three different actors. Del Toro is a born again former criminal struggling with his new life. Watts is a former coke addict now happily married with children. Penn is in a troubled marriage and on the verge of heart failure. He is also a mathematician, and in one scene speaks of a recurring theme of this movie: ordered chaos.A horrific car accident initiates a chain of events linking these characters together in bizarre ways. The common theme among all three characters is that this seemingly life-altering event stops the path they're currently on, yet at the same time restarts them down that same path. Viewing requires some thought and attention. The non-chronological storytelling is completely random for the first half-hour, but gains cohesion in the second half. The ending is a little un-satisfying. You know where the story's going, but you're expecting a major twist as to how it got there, a-la "Memento". But the twist never comes. Still, an extraordinarily well-acted, compelling film.
Rating:
Summary: what is the measure of a human life?
Review: A film by Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu This is a difficult film to review because it is not a conventional film by any means. There are fantastic acting performances, and layers of detail, but the structure of the film is what presents the challenge. "Memento" was a movie that had a story that was told out of sequence, but the way "Memento" was edited worked perfectly because there was a definite method and clear purpose that fit the story being told (the story was told in reverse order). Unlike "Memento", I was not able to figure why the scenes in "21 Grams" were out of chronological order. This is a powerful film, but it might also be needlessly complex (complexity for complexity's sake). Here's what we know about the movie (though exactly when we get everything fitted together is a little unclear). Paul Rivers (Sean Penn) is dying. He needs a heart transplant rather badly. Jack Jordan (Benicio Del Toro) is an ex-con trying to turn his life around. He has become a Christian, but still struggles with his anger. Cristina Peck (Naomi Watts) has lost both her husband and her two children in an auto accident. These three separate lives will start to intertwine as the movie progresses, but to give more than a simple description of who each of these characters are will be to spoil how they interact and why, and what happens to them. The disjointed chronology of the film makes describing it even more difficult because scenes from the beginning of the film only make sense when connected to a scene more than an hour later. In one sense, watching this film is an exercise in understanding. We see the film play out and we are (or at least I was) working to figure out how everything fits together both as a part of the story as well as to the greater theme of the movie. The movie is titled "21 Grams". It is said that the weight of a human soul is 21 grams because that is, supposedly, how much weight a body loses when a person dies. The film, in my view, is trying to measure a human life, to see what it means to be human, especially in the face of death. On one hand, the film succeeds. On the other, human life and experience is so varied that what may be meaningful for one viewer may be less so for another. I thought this was a powerful, well acted film, but the out of order format of the film was a little distracting. I'm not sure about the purpose of setting up the movie with the mixed up chronology. This is a good one, even a very good movie. The acting is great, but I'm not sure if the movie is.
Rating:
Summary: Take a deep breath, then take the plunge
Review: I bought 21 GRAMS over a month ago and kept finding excuses not to watch it ¨C anticipating its reputation for being a hard on the soul, but oddly enough I ended up succumbing on a dreary rainy afternoon anyway. I can¡¯t say it was very uplifting, but I expected so much. It is, nonetheless, a very thought provoking film filled with resonant performances, great visuals and subtle but moving music. I really cannot divulge anything about the plot ¨C the reverse of the DVD box is no more revealing ¨C but the story revolves predominantly around 3 characters (Sean Penn, Naomi Watts, and Benicio Del Toro), whose lives ¡®collide¡¯. The film is a bit of a puzzle (in more ways than one); scenes are edited together in a seemingly random order, a mix of later scenes first and earlier scenes last. Despite some similarities in concept, films such as MEMENTO or IRREVERSIBLE still work differently in that they begin at the end and go backwards towards the beginning in a reliable countdown fashion. 21 GRAMS is in contrast kind of all over the place. The Oscar nominations for Watts and Del Toro were well deserved, and Sean Penn could also have been nominated, though his character¡¯s motives are not quite as clear and fleshed out as the others'. The supporting cast is excellent too by the way. All the characters in this film are flawed in some way, which in my mind is one of the strongest aspects of the film. Normally in Hollywood films, everyone is so darn perfect, or if they have flaws, they always figure everything out by the time the credits roll. Well, that doesn¡¯t happen here. So if you¡¯re hoping for this warm and fuzzy sense of closure at the end, you¡¯ve got another thing comin¡¯. That¡¯s not to say you¡¯re left hanging in limbo, but perhaps for some viewers the hope and promise for better days for the characters will be too subtle to appreciate. As for me, I really enjoyed this film despite its heaviness. While I was relieved when it was over, my exhaustion was more reflective of the film getting under my skin than dissatisfaction, so I can still really recommend it. The acting is superb and the drama feels real. I am really looking forward to seeing what this film¡¯s director Alejandro Gonz¨¢lez I0Š9¨¢rritu does next.
Rating: 
Summary: One of the five best movies of 2004!
Review: If you didn't enjoy Memento or Irreversible because it jumped around and required a lot of concentration on your part, then this movie is not for you. Edited in a non-linear fashion, this movie jumps from scene to scene regardless of suspense. (i.e. Hollywood typically edits movies to follow a linear timeline where it may look like: A, B, C, D, E, and so on. 21 Grams scenes went something like: Q, B, E, A, H, C, W, and so on.) For the first half-hour I was a little lost, and wondered where it was all going. But thinking back on it now, that's just how the characters were feeling, lost and wondering where this is all going, or what this is all leading to. I can equate it to cutting the spine off a book and reading the loose pages at random. Sean Penn is at the top of his game with this one. He's consistent, and quickly draws you to his side, which is something many actors struggle with. You really start to feel sorry for his character (Paul), but when you see him in the next scene (which happens to be much later in the timeline) he is chiseling away at the image we were just starting to sympathize with. Naomi Watts plays a distraught widow that just lost her husband and two-daughters to a hit and run driver (don't worry; I'm not spoiling anything here.) She's so good you'll be choked up a few times from her acting alone; very consistent and very convincing. Benicio Del Toro. Now where should I start? I have often found his over-drawn accent and hair-flipping a bit of a distraction in the past, but in 21 Grams he is on spot. He plays an ex-con, ex-alcoholic, ex- thief, ex-thug that is now a Born Again Christian trying to help other 'ex-whatevers' stay on the straight and narrow. His new lifestyle is a bit more than his wife can handle, not to mention those that he is trying to help. (He must have found his character-study in a pastor of a cinderblock bunkhouse in some out-of-town church run by an ex-Hell's Angel, because no one just dreams this kind of character up in their set trailer.) Great plot, three actors at their best, and an awesome way of editing the movie! I highly recommend 21 Grams! You'll need to watch it without interruptions and be able to give it your undivided attention; otherwise you'll get lost and then end up not enjoying the movie.
Rating: 
Summary: Amazing movie, no features.
Review: I can't say enough about this movie, I absolutely loved it. But the dvd itself lacks special features of any kind. No commentary, no featurettes, nothing of any kind. I would have loved to be able to hear what the director and stars had to say about this movie, it was definitly one of the best movies i've seen in a long time. But I think for now, unless they put out another edition with some kind of special features on it, i would just rent this....a lot. Thats the reason this gets 2 stars, i think a lot of people rate the movie and not the actual item itself.
Rating:
Summary: Heart Wrenching and Heart Felt
Review: This DVD is completely void of Special Features, and for good reason. After viewing the film, one will most likely be left in introspective contemplation, on the meaning of life, the weaving in of God's will, and the eternal mystery of tragedy and the loss of life.
Sean Penn has always and will always inspire me to be an actor. So effortlessly does he embody his character, that it takes a while to adjust to him from film to film, whilst you believe that he is still such and such a character. His first round match up with Naomi Watts here is a great choice. Through in Benicio Del Toro as the quasi-innocent villain and in my opinion you've got a great cast.
The imaginative script comes from a great novel. The crafty filmaking on lesser quality film adds to the "gritty reality" feel of the movie. It weaves through time reminiscent of Memento and more recently Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (which I highly recommend!). If you have an unsettled stomach, than I suggest some contemplation before watching this film. Otherwise, enjoy these thought provoking films while they still exist.
Rating:
Summary: truth is always hard to stomach
Review: Very good movie. The three main actors are very very good at what they're doing. The key line of this movie? When Naomi Wats, talks to her father after her tragedy, and she says: "Life just don't go on". Cant be truer than that. I didnt see this movie as about fate, or destiny or reflection about what happens when the soul flees the body, this movie is simply about what happens when one or several of our loved ones is not there any more.
The movie simply shows that fleeing in face of bereavement is as hard as fleeing in the face of death: there's no escape from it. Life just doesnt go on. There is no religion, no hope, no everyday life that can make up for the fact that one person to whom the meaning of our own person was so intrinsically connected is not there any more.
Rating: 
Summary: Bad Movie!
Review: I was excited to see 21 Grams because I thought that it would be a "deep movie" that would expand my understanding of life and death. In the end, I was overly disappointed in how bad this movie actually is. It has no central point, the scenes are interchanging between characters and flashbacks, making it very confusing to follow.
I still don't quite understand how the one guy even ties in to the point that he becomes a central character.
Don't waste your time with this movie. I've wasted mine...
Rating: 
Summary: Great performances wasted in 21 Grams
Review: 21 Grams is a film you want to like because the acting is so good. Sean Penn, Benicio Del Toro, and Naomi Watts are all at their best and their best is wonderful to watch. Unfortunately, director Alejandro Inarritu lets his experiments in filmmaking get in the way of the work of his talented cast. At the heart of this story is a traffic accident. Del Toro, an ex-con who has found Jesus, turns a corner on a busy street with his truck and kills a father and his two daughters. Instead of stopping as Jesus would have done, he drives on and tells his wife of the accident. She urges him not to go to the police and goes out and wipes away all evidence of the tragedy. This retelling of the story is accurate, but the viwer only learns about it in bits and pieces. Inarritu plays fast and loose with our conceptions of time and story telling and in the process, will lose all but the most dedicated movie goers, as is evidenced by the many unfavorable reviews on Amazon.com. The performances of the entire cast were good enough to keep me watching closely until the final credits. We have to work at piecing the entire story together and it makes the two hour film seem much longer. For this reason I think Inarritu's experiment has failed. Instead of tantalizing us with bits and pieces of the story line, he antagonizes us. It seems as if he has turned a tragedy into a jigsaw puzzle. It was no fun putting this puzzle together. The film adds up to 21 Grams, not enough weight to justify two hours of our concerted effort playing hide and seek with the director. On the plus side, is there a better actor working in films today than Benicio Del Toro? Naomi Watts and Sean Penn are also at the very top of their game. Some viewers will enjoy the film just to watch great acting. Others may find Inarritu's experiments with filmmaking fascinating. The rest are going to be very unhappy they attempted to take the measure of 21 Grams.
Rating:
Summary: Powerful and Interesting film
Review: 21 grams is the kind of movie that makes you contemplate your own life and existence, and forces you to ponder the the meaning and interconnectedness of life itself. The movie sports a not-too complicated and jaw-droppingly ironic plot. The death of a man and his two children brings the lives of 3 people together in an odd and tragic turn of events. The really unique thing about the movie I felt was the way in which it was shot. Scenes from the movie are not only displayed out of chronological order, but scattered throughout the length of the movie in a seemingly random order. This was sheer briliance. It's also why you might find the plot a little hard to follow and a bit confusing at first. You'll constantly be asking which one was that, who was that guy, what just happened, where did that come from. For me this served two purposes: one it kept the movie very interesting and in deed captivating from begining to end (the movie would probably have felt more slow and dry if done traditionaly), two it almost seems like a metaphor for life. An illustration of what the movie is all about and trying to say. Sequences of scenes often make no sense untill later on, just as in life you often dont understand what happened untill looking back and connecting all the dots. Also the constant feeling of confusion and randomness does well to push the point that life just seems to happen and no one really knows what's going on or what's connected. The style of the shooting also does a great job of making you feel as if you arent watching a movie, but rather are just witnessing glimpses of moments of the actual lives of these people, scattered and momentarily incoherent untill finally we see how it's all connected. This really was fantastic I thought and very effective. The emotional impact is also extremely noteworthy. The movie studies how odd the events in life are, and how cruel life can be. Grief is one of the prime components of the film and the examination of how every action in the world bares a reaction. The events in the movie will often leave you just sitting there silent looking at the screen with a knot in your gut. Anyone who has experienced pain and loss will relate in a most personal way. The acting for this film was also excellent throughout. The whole cast did a great job, and the performances are not just believable but inspired. Most of all 21 grams pushes the point that we are all just kind of floating along through life, bumping into each other and being either victim or benefactor to a never ending line of factors that are beyond our control. is it fate, destiny, or the plan of some divine diety that puts us where we are, or is the universe just meaningless and we are all merely billiard balls randomly bumping into one another. 21 Grams examines, but offers no real answer to all these questions, and will at very least provide for some interesting conversation afterwards. If you're the type of person who likes phillosophy, or enjoys a well-done artistic movie about life that really makes you think, then this movie is for you.
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