21 Grams DVD

Advantages: Screen performances that blow you away; intriguing disrupted sequence of tale in first hour.
Disadvantages: Storytelling should have gone completely linear towards end; fractured sequence lessens emotional impact.

...Thus we have ' 21 Grams ' , which was first released in 2003. In this exploration of American culture and the American psyche by screenwriter Guillermo Arriaga and director Alejandro González Iñárritu (both of Mexico), we get a riveting, if intentionally incoherent, cinematic semi-masterpiece from the same duo responsible for the Spanish-language film, 'Amores Perros' in 2000. For ' 21 Grams ', the screenplay was written first in Spanish and then ...
...Iñárritu for the entire ' 21 Grams ' does intrigue mightily at first. Like a jumbled-up jigsaw puzzle with all the pieces strewn randomly on the floor, we are shown wholly unconnected events from the very start. The opening scene has a nude, seated Sean Penn smoking in the background, glancing thoughtfully at a nude Naomi Watts fast asleep on the bed. Several cuts and unrelated scenes later, Mr Penn is in an Intensive Care Unit hooked up to a tangle ... Read review

Advantages: Innovative, intriguing film style
Disadvantages: Potentially confusing

...that we all lose exactly 21 grams in weight at the exact moment of our death. Cristina Peck is a beautiful young woman who shares a beautiful home with her husband and two young daughters. With no need to work, she passes her time at the local swimming baths where she keeps fit and socialises with her friends. Returning home one day, she receives a telephone message from her husband to say that he is on his way and she laughs to herself as she hears ...
...United in tragedy and grief, 21 Grams is the story of how life goes on, whether we like it or not. In the style of Memento, 21 Grams is as convoluted as it is utterly simple. Filmed in a grainy, grimy style with raw documentary-style footage, it barely feels like a work of fiction and it doesn’t really play like one either. The obvious comparison is to the thriller Memento, which is a story about a guy who suffers from memory loss and can only remember ... Read review

Advantages: Suberb performances, escapes typical Hollywood movies
Disadvantages: Needs a DVD with more features and better image

INTRODUCTION: After the exceptional “Lost Loves” (Amores Perros), the Mexican Inarritu decided to take a stroll in Hollywood. However, in order to gain recognition, shine and certainly more money in his banking account, he decides to tell a human story precisely as he wanted it. With mature, suburb protagonists Penn, Watts and Del Toro, sets up a tangled game of time, coincidences, choices and, finally, fate. The hope comes from Mexico! :) THE ...
...strangers whose lives are brought together by a terrible accident; "21 Grams" is the latest film from director Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu ( as mentioned above) and it is available on DVD from Universal. Inarritu caused quite a stir in the independent film world with his major motion picture debut, "Amores Perros," in 2000. "Amores Perros" drew critical praise despite a relatively poor box office display and some extremely violent content. The film ... Read review

Advantages: Disjointed timeline; Quality acting; Good moral message
Disadvantages: Disjointed timeline

...** Background ** 21 Grams is a difficult film to talk about without giving anything away. It is written by Guillermo Arriaga and directed by Alejandro Inarritu. It is a combination of an interesting story, great acting and a disjointed timeline that has all been merged into an end product that requires as much from the audience as it offers to them. This is not the sort of film where you can sit down and switch off and still enjoy. The disjointed ...
...not like Pulp Fiction. 21 Grams is a lot more fragmented than Pulp Fiction was making it a lot more taxing to watch. This is the only film I have seen that has been disjointed to this level and I am not sure I would rush to see another one. The timeline is a big selling point for the film in that it is something different for an audience that has seen it all before. Having said that, for me I am not sure that it adds a great deal to the story and ... Read review

Advantages: Gritty and hard hitting
Disadvantages: You have to concentrate and stick with it

...of the title, to me 21 grams sounded like a drug reference, or maybe it was because of the trailer which showed drug taking and some washed out wasted characters. Even ten minutes in I still thought this was the case however this was because it reminded me of the film Traffic which centered on the drugs industry and the impact that it had on a disparate group of people. This is also quite a difficult film to review because of the way the story is ...
...their wider families and with 21 grams the film explores the devastation caused by a road accident not just on the victims but also on their families. It focuses on the family members left behind but also the impact on the driver who was at fault and the innocent members of his family. In addition an extra twist is introduced with a third party whose life is also affected by the fall out from the accident initially in a positive way but the psychological ... Read review