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21 Grams (2003)

tomatometer

81

Average Rating: 7.5/10
Reviews Counted: 176
Fresh: 142 | Rotten: 34

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

89

Average Rating: 8.1/10
Critic Reviews: 36
Fresh: 32 | Rotten: 4

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

audience

83

liked it
Average Rating: 3.6/5
User Ratings: 186,068

My Rating

Movie Info

Mexican filmmaker Alejandro González Iñárritu makes his first English-language feature with the downbeat drama 21 Grams. Set in an unnamed U.S. urban center, the film uses a nonlinear structure to piece together the intertwined lives of three very different people. Paul (Sean Penn) is a math teacher with a heart problem and a troubled marriage to British wife Mary (Charlotte Gainsbourg). Christine (Naomi Watts) is a former drug addict who lives with her husband, Michael (Danny Huston), and her

Mar 16, 2004

$16.2M

Universal Pictures

Cast

All Critics (186) | Top Critics (37) | Fresh (145) | Rotten (35) | DVD (23)

Dripping with cinematic style.

December 26, 2003 Full Review Source: Sacramento Bee | Comment
Sacramento Bee
Top Critic IconTop Critic

Challenges and provokes in unexpected ways.

December 26, 2003 Comment
Philadelphia Inquirer
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Establishes [Inarritu] as a major cinematic force.

December 26, 2003 Full Review Source: Houston Chronicle | Comment
Houston Chronicle
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You won't soon forget the world that Gonzalez Inarritu creates.

December 26, 2003 Comment
Denver Rocky Mountain News
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Fascinating because of the way the story is told -- and because of the existential issues that it forces you to consider.

December 26, 2003 Full Review Source: Orlando Sentinel | Comment
Orlando Sentinel
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The performances, the way Inarritu deconstructs and reconstructs the narrative, the grainy, gritty feel and look, all lead to the rare sort of experience that only a truly great film can offer.

December 25, 2003 Comment
Detroit News
Top Critic IconTop Critic

Thought-provoking film not for tweens/young teens.

August 26, 2010 Full Review Source: Common Sense Media | Comments (3)
Common Sense Media

A highly emotional, thought provoking drama that easily lives up to the hype, 21 Grams is a film that has all of its bases covered: script, acting and direction.

July 6, 2010 Full Review Source: Matt's Movie Reviews | Comment
Matt's Movie Reviews

"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.

April 18, 2009 Full Review Source: ColeSmithey.com | Comment (1)
ColeSmithey.com

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

February 5, 2008 Full Review Source: Panorama | Comment

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

July 23, 2007 Full Review Source: eFilmCritic.com | Comment
eFilmCritic.com

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

May 3, 2005 Full Review Source: Lessons of Darkness | Comment
Lessons of Darkness

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

December 16, 2004 Full Review Source: Panorama | Comment

... 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.

December 6, 2004 Comment
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.

September 30, 2004 Comment
More Critic Reviews

Audience Reviews for 21 Grams

I love this style of film. I was almost lost during a few scenes, but at the end some of the loose ends were connected and it really turned this film around for me. What a story! Excellent performances from Penn, Del Toro, and Watts, as well as Charlotte Gainsbourg and Melissa Leo. Del Toro definitely deserved their

September 7, 2010
jamers2011
Jameson Worley

Super Reviewer

'21 Grams'. Bleak, utterly depressing, and completely mesmerising. Naomi Watts, Benicio Del Toro and Sean Penn all turned in fantastic performances, with Watts my stand-out, and the nonlinear telling of this tale worked well in creating a sense of dread over and over.

November 5, 2011
c0up
c0up  

Super Reviewer

    1. Paul: How many lives do we live? How many times do we die? They say we all lose 21 grams... at the exact moment of our death. Everyone. And how much fits into 21 grams? How much is lost? When do we lose 21 grams? How much goes with them? How much is gained? How much is gained? Twenty-one grams. The weight of a stack of five nickels. The weight of a hummingbird. A chocolate bar. How much did 21 grams weigh?
    – Submitted by Alejandro O (7 months ago)
    1. Christine: You know what I thought when mom died? I couldn't understand how you could talk to people again, how you could laugh... again. I couldn't understand how you could play with us. And no, no that's a lie, life does not just go on.
    – Submitted by Chris P (9 months ago)
    1. Paul: Did you know that eating alone could cause kidney damage? And that's BAD.
    – Submitted by Chris P (9 months ago)

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Foreign Titles

  • 21 Gramm (DE)
  • 21 grammes (FR)
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