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Movies / On DVD / 21 Grams
21 Grams

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21 Grams (2003)

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Reviews Counted:171

Fresh:140

Rotten:31

Average Rating:7.6/10

Consensus: A moving, but frustratingly-structured drama with superb performances.

Rated: R [See Full Rating] for language, sexuality, some violence and drug use

Runtime: 2 hrs 5 mins

Genre: Dramas

Theatrical Release:Nov 21, 2003 Limited

Box Office: $16,162,920

Synopsis: 21 Grams is the new film from the Academy Award-nominated director of Amores Perros, Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu. It is a story of hope and humanity, of resilience and survival. Whether you fear... 21 Grams is the new film from the Academy Award-nominated director of Amores Perros, Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu. It is a story of hope and humanity, of resilience and survival. Whether you fear death or not, it comes, and at that moment your body becomes twenty-one grams lighter. Is it a person's soul that constitutes those twenty-one grams? Is that weight carried by those who survive us? The lead actors in 21 Grams are three-time Academy Award nominee Sean Penn, Academy Award winner Benicio Del Toro, and award-winning actress Naomi Watts. The actors were all honored at the film's world premiere at the 2003 Venice International Film Festival, where Sean Penn won Best Actor and Benicio Del Toro and Naomi Watts earned the Audience Awards for Best Actor and Actress. 21 Grams, written by Guillermo Arriaga (Amores Perros), explores the emotionally and physically charged existences of three people over a period of several months. An accident unexpectedly throws their lives and destinies together, in a story that will take them to the heights of love, the depths of revenge, and the promise of redemption. College professor Paul Rivers (Sean Penn) and his wife Mary (Charlotte Gainsbourg) find their union precariously balanced between life and death. He is mortally ill and awaiting a heart transplant, while she hopes to become pregnant with his child through artificial insemination. Cristina Peck (Naomi Watts), having matured since her reckless past, is a beloved older sister to Claudia (Clea DuVall), a good wife to Michael (Danny Huston) and loving mother to two little girls. Her family radiates hope and joy. Much farther down the socioeconomic scale, ex-con Jack Jordan (Benicio Del Toro) and his wife Marianne (Melissa Leo) struggle to provide for their two children while Jack reaffirms his commitment to religion. A tragic accident that claims several lives places these couples in each other's orbit. In the aftermath, Paul confronts his own mortality, Cristina takes action to come to terms with her present and perhaps her future, and Jack's faith is put to the test. If spiritual equilibrium is to be regained by any one of them, it could come at great cost to the others. Yet the will to live, and the instinct to reach out to another person for support, remains ever-present among them all. -- © Focus Features [More]

Starring: Sean Penn, Benicio Del Toro, Naomi Watts, Charlotte Gainsbourg

Starring: Sean Penn, Benicio Del Toro, Naomi Watts, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Melissa Chessington Leo, Clea DuVall, Danny Huston

Director: Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu

Director: Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu
Screenwriter: Guillermo Arriaga Jordan
Producer: Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, Ted Hope, Robert Solerno
Composer: Gustavo Santaolaya
Studio: Focus Features

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Release:

Mar 16, 2004

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Reviews for 21 Grams

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1 - 20 (sorted by date)
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"21 Grams" commands a running discourse that runs as a constant thematic thread through all of humanity. The movie delivers life as a floating mysterious entity that we all share. It's very few films that achieve anything remotely close.

Full Review Source: ColeSmithey.com | comment 1 Comment
04/18/09
Cole Smithey
Cole Smithey
ColeSmithey.com
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Urban Cinefile | comment Comment
10/18/08
Urban Cinefile Critics
Urban Cinefile Critics
Urban Cinefile

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Sacramento News & Review | comment Comment
08/07/08
Mark Halverson
Mark Halverson
Sacramento News & Review

Une oeuvre d'une rare intensité dramatique qui n'a aucunement besoin de suivre un cheminement narratif classique pour susciter une vive réaction chez le spectateur

Full Review Source: Panorama | comment Comment
02/05/08
Jean-François Vandeuren
Jean-François Vandeuren
Panorama

The structure simply doesn't let any of the characters build an arc of growth or despair.

Full Review Source: eFilmCritic.com | comment Comment
07/23/07
Rob Gonsalves
Rob Gonsalves
eFilmCritic.com
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Time Out | comment Comment
06/24/06
Geoff Andrew
Geoff Andrew
Time Out

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Zertinet Movies | comment Comment
01/04/06
Steven Snyder
Steven Snyder
Zertinet Movies

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Film Threat | comment Comment
12/06/05
Film Threat

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Full Review Source: Film Threat | comment Comment
12/06/05
Film Threat

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Full Review Source: Film Threat | comment Comment
12/06/05
Film Threat

The performances, by and large, outweigh the film's unnecessary metaphorical gunk.

Full Review Source: Lessons of Darkness | comment Comment
05/03/05
Nick Schager
Nick Schager
Lessons of Darkness

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: NYC Film Critic | comment Comment
03/05/05
Ethan Alter
Ethan Alter
NYC Film Critic

Quel est le poids de l’amour, de la vengeance et de la culpabilité? À vous de le découvrir.

Full Review Source: Panorama | comment Comment
12/16/04
Louis-Jérôme Cloutier
Louis-Jérôme Cloutier
Panorama

... a hurricane of melodrama and implausibly accelerating crises that seem orchestrated merely to turn up the intensity. ... At 125 minutes, [it] feels more like 240.

Full Review Source: Looking Closer | comment Comment
12/06/04
Jeffrey Overstreet
Jeffrey Overstreet
Looking Closer

21 Grams thrashes wildly...exhorting us to feel something. Apart from the fleeting satisfaction of its structural parlor game, I felt little...save exhausted boredom.

Full Review Source: Los Angeles Alternative | comment Comment
09/30/04
Jay Antani
Jay Antani
Los Angeles Alternative

Absorbs you and dissects its tale of life, death, and re-birth with inventive force.

Full Review Source: Oregon Herald | comment Comment
08/13/04
Mark Sells
Mark Sells
Oregon Herald
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: New York Magazine | comment Comment
08/07/04
Peter Rainer
Peter Rainer
New York Magazine
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

21 Grams achieves its objectives and, despite its flaws, is thoroughly entertaining.

Full Review Source: FilmFocus | comment Comment
07/20/04
Joe Utichi
Joe Utichi
FilmFocus

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Empire Magazine | comment Comment
05/14/04
Empire Magazine
N/R

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Full Review Source: Guardian [UK] | comment Comment
04/09/04
Guardian [UK]
 
 
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Latest News for 21 Grams

July 13, 2007: Charlize Theron to Visit "The Burning Plain"
The Oscar-winning blonde will anchor the directorial debut of one of the hottest screenwriters around: Guillermo Arriaga. More...

October 26, 2006: Box Office Guru Preview: Saw III Brings The Pain
Blood will flow and screams will be deafening at North American multiplexes this weekend when the horror sequel "Saw III" buzzes its way into theaters. While there... More...

October 04, 2006: "21 Grams," "Babel" Creators Innaritu and Arriaga on the Outs?
Rumor has it that the long-standing and successful partnership between Mexican director Alejandro Gonzalez Innaritu and writer Guillermo Arriaga may be coming to an ugly end,... More...

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