Review of 21 Grams (2003) by Rory D — 16 Jan 2010

Flawless! I've watched this film more times than I can count and each time I find something that draws me in, connects me with the characters and pushes me to the screen to absorb filmmaking at its finest.

Many people have complained about the editing choices, the frantic often disjointed assemblage of events but unlike other films which have failed with this technique, Inarritu and his team make this one pay off in big ways.

Even the selection of Danny Huston as the doomed father character and Eddie Marsan as the hip street counselor are tactile and effective in legitimizing a world that is obviously turned upside down. This place is familiar because it is rocked by tragic and unforeseeable events that might as well be taken from our daily newspapers.

Man with bad heart receives traffic accident victims organ donation then haplessly falls in love with the dead manâ??s wife. Guillermo Arriaga Jordanâ??s script is a beautiful and painful story that resonates with believable emotions in a world full of damaged people.

Sean Penn is at once an everyman struck down at what might be his prime only to become a herald for irrational behavior that leads him to heartfelt self destruction - who can't identify with that? Penn delivers and Naomi Watts has never been better.