Number 536 on the top 1000 films of all time is Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu's psychological drama '21 Grams.'
Told in a non-linear fashion, 21 Grams follows the relationship between three different characters: Paul Rivers, (Sean Penn) a mathematics professor with a fatal heart condition, a reformed convict Jack Jordan (Benicio Del Toro) and Cristina Peck, (Naomi Watts) a recovering drug addict and housewife. After a fatal hit-and-run their lives intersect in ways they could never imagine.
The second in Inarritu's trilogy of death after Amores Perros. Similarly to what Tarantino does in Pulp Fiction, Inarritu plays around with time. The scenes don't play in chronological order which doesn't always make for the easiest of viewing. You have to work to truly follow and understand this film, but I would argue the work is worth it. Things start confusingly, but they do coalesce as the film progresses.
We are thrown right into the action with different clips from our three central characters: Paul is on life support, Jack is giving a pep talk to another young offender and Cristina is at an NA meeting. Separate fragments that blend into a whole. Films like this can be off-putting to some viewers. It takes a lot of work to watch and understand non-linear films and this might be work that some people might not want to put in. Film is supposed to be a method of escape and how can you escape if you're constantly trying to figure out what is going on? I would argue that the similarly structured Citizen Kane is overrated. But that was because Kane himself was an uninteresting character.
Whereas Paul, Jack and Cristina were very interesting to watch. All three were characters with troubled pasts just trying to do better. Paul is a downtrodden man distressed by his incurable heart condition, Jack is a former convict who has now found god and Cristina is recovering from her drug addition. They are all overcoming their personal demons and were easy to root for. The three lead actors did well in bringing their characters to life especially Benicio Del Toro and Watts. Both of them received Oscar nominations for their performances and rightly so.
While this film might not be for everyone, I would highly recommend giving it a go. It might end up surprising you.
I was properly confused by this film. But I thought it was a worthy piece of work, that I sort of understood by the end. The 3 main actors were impressive.
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