Everyone loses exactly 21 grams when he dies. Could those 21 grams be the weight of the soul? Is everyone's soul worth the same weight? These are two of the many questions that Alejandro Iñárritu's highly philosophical 21 Grams raises.
21 Grams is the story of three seemingly unrelated people whose lives are bound by one fateful moment in time. Sean Penn is an ailing professor who needs a transplanted heart in order to live more than a month; Naomi Watts is a suburban mother mourning the deaths of her husband and young daughters; and Benicio Del Toro is a former convict turned born-again Christian struggling to stay clean. The lead performances are all top-notch. Del Toro commands both fear and pity as the violent 'Jesus freak.' Penn is alternately handsome, pathetic and creepy, playing a stalker with a mission, and Watts is heart-breaking in her best movie since Mulholland Drive. Watts and Del Toro should earn Oscar nominations, though Penn isn't likely to, only because his superb acting in the much-acclaimed Mystic River overshadows his work in 21 Grams.
Mexican director Iñárritu shows tremendous promise in his first English-language film and his first full-length work since 2000's phenomenal Amores Perros. Iñárritu joins Quentin Tarentino as a director whose trademark is making movies in a non-linear fashion. Whether this is just a stylistic stunt or whether it actually enhances the movie is unclear: Can a non-linear timeline actually accomplish something beyond frustrating the audience?
Though 21 Grams would have been a compelling story if told in a straight line, the film's philosophical message is more apparent when the story is told out of order. Since we know each character's ultimate fate within the first five minutes, there is an unsettling sense of predestination--fitting in a movie that continually grapples with spiritual controversy. All of the characters' fates are sealed, and we can't tear ourselves away from the train wreck that is them hurtling toward their destinies.
Jack Jordan (Del Toro) believes that all of man's troubles are part of a Divine plan--that every event is preordained. But can we change our predestination? And does that mean God is the cause of our pain? Does He give us troubles to punish us or to make us stronger? Does the soul of a convict weigh the same as the soul of a four-year-old girl? Is there salvation for the worst among us?
Go see 21 Grams if you want a philosophical discussion with your fellow theater-goers about mortality, revenge, redemption, justice and salvation; don't expect easy answers, simply a fantastic journey.
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