21 Grams

Oof. Caveat: I don't think people with small kids should see this film, if only for the raw emotions you'll feel once the main intent of the film is revealed. There's not much I can say about the plot of the film, since it's important that you figure that out for yourself over the course of it, but for those of you who haven't seen Alejandro González Iñárritu's previous film, Amores Perros, you may wish to know that his narrative structure can be likened to Christopher Nolan's Memento or David Lynch's Mulholland Dr. In other words, it isn't linear. However (and it's a big however) I didn't find following what was happening at all difficult. You may be confused for the first 5 minutes, but you'll catch on very quickly. I found myself comparing the style of this film with Clint Eastwood's recent Mystic River (maybe because Sean Penn is in both of them?). While in Eastwood's films what you see is what you get, in Iñárritu's films there is something extra, perhaps what I would call the "cool" factor, or the "hey, I graduated from film school, see?" factor. I didn't find it particularly disturbing since the film itself is so involving and well structured, but I could see how others might have a quibble with it. I'm happy to learn that Benicio Del Toro, Sean Penn and Naomi Watts have all be nominated for end-of-the-year awards by various film associations, but I am surprised to see that they're nowhere to be found in the Golden Globe nominations. I could just be clueless and not understand the cut-off for GG nominations, but in particular Watts' performance needs to be recognized as a tour de force. She is fearless in what she delivers on screen, so much so that at times you need to look away because what she's showing you is so naked. Here's to more roles for this fantastic actress.

years: 2003
length: 125 min.
rating: 4.0
IMDB link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0315733/combined