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| 1/20/2004 |
| 21 Grams: Heavy Lifting (even for Magnus) |
A Movie Review
by Wes Bennett
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“21 Grams” is a very dark, creative film that follows the lives of three strangers whose stories all interconnect. It’s well acted, features “Memento” like shuffling of the time line and is one of the best movies of the year despite being bleak and depressing.
The name of the film refers to the myth that when you die, your body loses the weight of about 5 nickels or a hummingbird. Many would say this is the weight of your soul. The film is all about the essence of life and death, exploring the elements of sorrow, guilt, loss, love, addiction, faith and revenge.
A former drug addict and single mother, Christine (Naomi Watts), a terminally ill mathematics professor, Paul (Sean Penn), and a spiritual ex-convict, Jack (Benicio Del Toro) are slowly brought together after a tragic car accident. Each character is barely skirting a fatal, or at least lethal, problem. Rocked by a horrific event, all of the lives are thrown out of balance.
Directed by Alejandro Iñárritu, the Mexican filmmaker whose debut film, “Amores Perros,” was critically acclaimed, has rearranged the timeline into a rush of action that at first seems disconnected and almost random, but gradually reveals its meaning and architecture.
We are left wondering if this approach is better than telling the same story from beginning to end in a standard structure. Even if you think the answer is no, the unorthodox technique at least makes the movie unique and memorable. (I never watched “Memento” in chronological order on DVD, but I doubt it would have been as cool as the backwards version).
I would argue that by piecing events together in this unconventional manner, Iñárritu forces us to pay close attention from the very beginning. Because we have little idea as to what is going on, we are very attentive to everything that occurs, and we pick up on more than we usually would. It requires greater concentration to remember seemingly random events and put them back together.
The film, as does many that come out right around the New Year, is filled with three topnotch performances. Sean Penn cannot quite outdo his turn as Jimmy Markum in “Mystic River” but is again in top form, completing a very impressive year.
Watts is riveting, although she's much better in scenes of extreme emotion than in those requiring subtlety. Her on edge performance is not too far away from Jennifer Connelly’s in “The House of Sand and Fog.” Both women are struggling with addictions in the face of very unfortunate events.
Benicio Del Toro (who reminds me of a heavier, hispanic version of Brad Pitt) has already won an Oscar for 2000’s “Traffic” and his performance here convinces me that he deserves another. I completely bought into every scene he did. He played a very repressed, guilty man, but the few times he explodes, it was very, very affecting.
Overall this is not a fun film to watch. Filmed in grayish, washed out colors against a bleak sky, the film is resoundingly dark and grainy. The music is slow and moody and rightfully so. (Much of the gloom has to do to the fact that much of the film was shot in Memphis, which I consider to be one of the ugliest cities in America).
Coming out of the theater, I felt almost numb. For whatever reason, the movie has an aloof chilliness that can distance you from the characters, even at their most passionate. The film was not very involving, most of the time I felt like I was watching the characters, not feeling what they were. Depressing or not, this is not a work that you can easily dismiss and should be seen at the very least to enjoy the three main performances.
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| "We use words like honor, code, loyalty. We use these words as the backbone of a life spent defending something. You use them as a punchline. I have neither the time nor the inclination to explain myself to a man who rises and sleeps under the blanket of the very freedom I provide, then question the manner in which I provide it." |
- Jack Nicholson
A Few Good Men
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Distributed Beers
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| 5 |
Sierra Nevada Bigfoot |
| 4 |
Guinness Draught |
| 3 |
Newcastle Brown Ale |
| 2 |
Bass Pale Ale |
| 1 |
Samuel Adams Boston Lager |
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