A Heavy Trip
Like his earlier feature Amores Perros, director Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu's 21 Grams uses tragedy and coincidence to bring three very different people together. And while his redemptive tale sometimes borders on TV movie tearjerker territory, the presentation doesn't.
The story of Paul (Sean Penn), Christine (Naomi Watts), and Jack (Benicio Del Toro) and how they find themselves in a seedy hotel intent on murder is told completely out of sequence, with each scene taking place at a different point in the story.
While this is not a particularly new idea, the out of sequence technique can be effective in illustrating the inner workings of characters who have become unhinged from reality. Unfortunately, in 21 Grams, the technique is used so aggressively that it goes from disorientating to distracting to unnecessary, eventually blunting the dramatic power and nuance of the story and, particularly, the excellent performances by Penn and Del Toro.
As in Amores Perros, the three protagonists become linked through a tragic automobile accident, which robs Christine of her husband and children and gives Paul, who is dying of heart disease, his life back. Jack, an ex-con who is now a religious fanatic, takes responsibility for the accident he caused and goes to jail. Paul, determined to thank Christine for her husband's heart, begins an affair with her and becomes embroiled in her plot for revenge against Jack.
Although the plot is rather tried and true, with echoes of Krzysztof Kieslowski's superior Blue, 21 Grams works best when it's focused on showing us the lives of these sad, self-destructive, depressed people. Penn and Del Toro's performances in particular are quite good. Watts, who has been excellent before, comes off as hysterical in her role as grieving mother and ex-drug addict Christine. Her performance is a victim of the out of sequence editing scheme of the movie. While Penn and Del Toro are given scenes which have self-contained emotional range, Watts' character is tied more to the event that brings them all together, and hence hinged on the opportunity to follow her disintegration from one scene to another. Essentially, she ends up playing three characters—loving mother, grieving widow and hysterical, drug-addled nihilist.
The movie's best storyline is Jack's because he is a man trying to do right, but can't catch a break. Paul and Christine are just completely and unremittingly self-destructive, and their love affair comes too easily and doesn't seem to ring true.
In the end, 21 Grams posits that redemption and happiness is open to all of us, but, by that time, it's become too confused and depressing to really make one care.
The story of Paul (Sean Penn), Christine (Naomi Watts), and Jack (Benicio Del Toro) and how they find themselves in a seedy hotel intent on murder is told completely out of sequence, with each scene taking place at a different point in the story.
While this is not a particularly new idea, the out of sequence technique can be effective in illustrating the inner workings of characters who have become unhinged from reality. Unfortunately, in 21 Grams, the technique is used so aggressively that it goes from disorientating to distracting to unnecessary, eventually blunting the dramatic power and nuance of the story and, particularly, the excellent performances by Penn and Del Toro.
As in Amores Perros, the three protagonists become linked through a tragic automobile accident, which robs Christine of her husband and children and gives Paul, who is dying of heart disease, his life back. Jack, an ex-con who is now a religious fanatic, takes responsibility for the accident he caused and goes to jail. Paul, determined to thank Christine for her husband's heart, begins an affair with her and becomes embroiled in her plot for revenge against Jack.
Although the plot is rather tried and true, with echoes of Krzysztof Kieslowski's superior Blue, 21 Grams works best when it's focused on showing us the lives of these sad, self-destructive, depressed people. Penn and Del Toro's performances in particular are quite good. Watts, who has been excellent before, comes off as hysterical in her role as grieving mother and ex-drug addict Christine. Her performance is a victim of the out of sequence editing scheme of the movie. While Penn and Del Toro are given scenes which have self-contained emotional range, Watts' character is tied more to the event that brings them all together, and hence hinged on the opportunity to follow her disintegration from one scene to another. Essentially, she ends up playing three characters—loving mother, grieving widow and hysterical, drug-addled nihilist.
The movie's best storyline is Jack's because he is a man trying to do right, but can't catch a break. Paul and Christine are just completely and unremittingly self-destructive, and their love affair comes too easily and doesn't seem to ring true.
In the end, 21 Grams posits that redemption and happiness is open to all of us, but, by that time, it's become too confused and depressing to really make one care.
