I had heard bits and pieces about this film when it was released in the cinema but was never overly desperate to see it. For some reason when it was released on DVD I was desperate to see it so took the plunge and rented it one night. I sat down in the front of the telly, had a couple of beers and started watching the film. I tried to put my lack of understanding of the film to the beer but as I was only starting my first can when I lost the plot of the film it seems unlikely.

** 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 timeline of the film means that the audience are required to piece the events together for themselves rather being shown them in a linear fashion.

** Storyline **

This is not the easiest film to describe so I apologise if this doesn’t do the story justice or whet your appetite for the film.

Paul Rivers is a mathematician who is very ill and requires a transplant operation to save his life. If a suitable donor cannot be found in the next month then Paul will die. Paul’s wife, Mary, is looking after her husband while he is ill despite the fact that their marriage is on the verge of ruin. Despite being very ill and requiring oxygen to breath properly, Paul continues to smoke and as a consequence of that risks his own health and his chances of getting a donor.

Mary on the other hand is desperate to have Paul’s child and wants to take steps to ensure that this can happen even if Paul dies. After several tests, it is discovered that Mary is having difficulty conceiving and will require medical assistance. Mary seeks medical assistance to set the wheels in motion for artificial insemination. Paul doesn’t seem too convinced by the idea because of the state of their marriage but is prepared to humour her while it looks like he will die soon.

Christina and Michael Peck have two daughters and live in the suburbs. Christina is a housewife and loving mother, while Michael is an architect. They live a comfortable, almost idyllic life on the surface of things, although all is not so perfect below the surface. Christina is recovering from a drug problem, but with the help and support of her husband is managing to kick the habit.

Jack Jordan is an ex-con who after serving time in prison is determined to set his life straight and be a good Christian with the help of Jesus. He has a loving wife, Marianne, and two children who he hasn’t seen much of because of his time in prison. Jack absorbs himself in religion as he attempts to live a pure life and prevent any more time away from his family. Jack and Marianne are nowhere near as wealthy as the Peck’s and struggle to provide for their family.

These three couples are leading seemingly unrelated lives until a tragic accident conspires to throw them together and turn each of their lives upside down. Each of them must follow their own path to find spiritual peace, but the consequences of their actions will have dramatic effects on each other. Christina must learn to deal with the present and the prospects for the future. Jack is forced to put his faith in Jesus to the test. Paul must face the prospect of dieing. All three of them will find hope and despair in their own ways.

** Characters **

Paul Rivers - played by Sean Penn (Mystic River), is a critically ill mathematician who is waiting for a transplant operation. His condition is so acute that if he does not receive a transplant soon he will die within a month. Despite being seriously ill, Paul is determined to keep what pleasures he can for whatever time he has left.

Mary Rivers – played by Charlotte Gainsbourg, is the wife of Paul Rivers. Despite the fact that their marriage is going through a rough patch, Mary is determined to help Paul through the next few months and wants to become pregnant with his child.

Christina Peck - played by Naomi Watts (The Ring, Mulholland Drive), is a loving housewife (to Michael) with two daughters. She lives a quite suburban life but has a dark past, which she is trying to recover from with the help of her family. Christina and Michael live a comfortable life and are in a position to provide everything their family needs.

Jack Jordan - played by Benico Del Toro (Traffic, The Usual Suspects), is an ex-con who has seen the light of God and is trying to live a pure and honest life. Jack has a loving wife and children whom he is determined to do the best by. His first love however is to Jesus as Jack seeks a way to stay clear of trouble and go straight.

** My Opinion **

I must admit that the first time I saw this film I wasn’t really sure what I thought about it. There is no denying that it is quite different to anything else I have seen to date but I wasn’t sure that it worked well enough to make this film one that I could really enjoy. This uncertainty lead me to watch the film again the following night when I was in a better frame of mind and this time I got a lot more out of it. Lucky for me Blockbuster does 2 night rentals these days.

There is no doubting that the most striking aspect of this film is the disjointed timeline. There have been many films that have attempted a disjointed timeline and each have had varying degrees of success. For me, the best one has been Pulp Fiction. This is 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 in this sense it may actually be a drawback for the film.

I like the idea of a disjointed timeline in a film and the mystery it generates. It makes the viewer guess on where the storyline is going and it is not until the end of the film that everything falls into place. For it to work at all the storyline needs to be simple enough for the viewer to remember all the main points and place them in the correct order in their heads. With the disjointed timeline removed I think that the storyline is simple enough to make a disjointed timeline work. Somehow though I am not sure that it does. For me I think the timeline aspect in some way removes from the moral elements of the film and what the film is actually trying to tell us. I think the message would have been clearer and better without the jumbled timeline.

It has been a fairly negative assessment of the film so far, but the good news is that it is about to get much better as we move onto the acting. I have never been a big fan of Sean Penn or his films but I have to say in this film I thought he was excellent. There was plenty for him to get into in his role as he plays a critically ill person as well as a fit and able person on a quest to discover himself.

Naomi Watts and Benico Del Toro are both superb too. Watts does particularly well in the more emotional scenes in the film. I didn’t know a lot about her up until a couple of years ago, but after being the best thing about “The Ring”, I have been very impressed. She does brilliantly in this role, which must have been a very difficult role to get into. Del Toro gives another typically gritty performance as he has shown in some of his previous films like Traffic.

All in all I couldn’t fault the acting and for me it was far and away the best part of the film. I like the idea behind the film and I am glad that I have seen it. If you have the patience to stay with it the first time you watch it you will be rewarded but this is not something I could watch over and over. For me it is a great idea that could have been done better.

** Quotes **

“God even knows when a single hair moves on your head” Jack Jordan

“They say we all lose 21 grams at the exact moment of our death . . . everyone. The weight of a stack of Nickels. The weight of a chocolate bar. The weight of a hummingbird.”

** More Information **

Want a better description of the story or just some more information about the film? Check out these links:
http://www.21-grams.com/index.php
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0315733/

** Availability **

This film is now widely available from all good DVD/VHS retailers and can be picked up for as little as £8 on DVD from CD-Wow (true as at the time of writing).

** Overall **

I would recommend that everyone see this film once (maybe twice), but you will probably want to rent this rather than buy it. The impact the film has is significantly reduced once you have seen it so it is not the sort of film you would want to own. So, ditch the beer and get yourself a coffee and prepare to concentrate for a couple of hours.

Thanks for reading.