21 Grams

21 Grams Information

21 Grams is a 2003 American drama film directed by Mexican director Alejandro González Iñárritu and written by Guillermo Arriaga. It stars Sean Penn, Naomi Watts, Danny Huston, Charlotte Gainsbourg, and Benicio del Toro.

Like Arriaga's and González Iñárritu's previous film, Amores perros (2000), 21 Grams interweaves several plot lines, around the consequences of a tragic automobile accident. Penn plays a critically ill academic mathematician, Watts plays a grief-stricken mother, and del Toro plays a born-again Christian ex-convict whose faith is sorely tested in the aftermath of the accident.

21 Grams is presented in a non-linear arrangement where the lives of the characters are depicted before and after the accident. The three main characters each have 'past', 'present', and 'future' story threads, which are shown as non-linear fragments that punctuate elements of the overall story, all imminently coming toward each other and coalescing as the story progresses.

Title

The title refers to a belief propagated by the early 20th century research of physician Dr. Duncan MacDougall which attempted to show scientific proof of the existence of the immortal human soul by recording a small loss of body weight (representing the departure of the soul) immediately following death. The research by MacDougall attempted to follow the scientific method and showed some variance in results (21 grams is the reported weight loss from the death of the first patient). His final report has not been recognized by the scientific community, neither at the time nor since. The film presents MacDougall's findings as accepted scientific fact as a form of dramatic license.

Plot

The story is told in a non-linear manner. The following is a linear, chronological summary of the plot:

Jack Jordan (Benicio del Toro) is a former convict who is using his new-found religious faith to recover from drug addiction and alcoholism. Paul Rivers (Sean Penn) is a mathematics professor with a fatal heart condition. Unless he receives a new heart from an organ donor, he will not live longer than one month. Paul's wife wants him to donate his sperm so she can have his baby even if he dies. Cristina Peck (Naomi Watts) is also a recovering drug addict and now lives a normal suburban life with a supportive husband and two children. She is a loving mother and active swimmer who has left her days of drugs and booze behind. These three separate stories/characters become tied together one evening when Jack kills Cristina's husband and children in a hit-and-run accident. Her husband's heart is donated to Paul, who begins his recovery.

Cristina is devastated by the loss and returns to drugs and alcohol. Paul is eager to begin normal life again, but he hesitantly agrees to his wife's idea of surgery and artificial insemination as a last-ditch effort to get pregnant. During consultations with a doctor before the surgery, Paul learns that his wife had undergone an abortion after they had separated in the past. Angered, Paul ends the relationship. He becomes very inquisitive about whose heart he has. He learns from a private detective that the heart belonged to Cristina's husband and begins to follow the widowed Cristina around town.

Jack is stricken with guilt following the accident. Despite his wife's protests to keep quiet and conceal his guilt, Jack tells her that his "duty is to God" and turns himself in. While incarcerated, he claims that God had betrayed him, loses his will to live and tries unsuccessfully to commit suicide. He is released after Cristina declines to press charges, as she realizes that putting Jack in prison will not bring her family back. When Jack is released, he is unable to reincorporate himself into normal family life, and instead leaves home to live as a transient, working a job of manual labor.

Paul finds an opportunity to meet Cristina and eventually reveals how the two of them are connected. Desperately needing one another, they begin to develop a relationship. Though Paul has a new heart, his body is rejecting the transplant and his outlook is grim. As Cristina begins to dwell more on her changed life and the death of her girls, she continually focuses on a desire to exact revenge on Jack. She goads Paul into agreeing to murder him.

Paul meets with the private detective who originally found Cristina for him. Paul also purchases a gun from him and learns that Jack is living in a motel. Paul and Cristina check into the motel where Jack is also staying. When Jack is walking alone, Paul grabs him and leads him out into a clearing at gunpoint with the intention of killing him. Paul is unable to kill Jack, who himself is confused, shaking and pleading during the event. Paul tells Jack to "just disappear" then returns to the motel, lying to Cristina about Jack's death. Later that night, while they are sleeping, Paul and Cristina are awakened by a noise outside their door. It's Jack, who, still consumed by guilt and inner torment, orders Paul to kill him and end his misery. There is a struggle, and Cristina blind-sides Jack and begins to beat him with a wooden lamp. Paul has a heart attack and shoots himself to avoid dying from asphyxia.

Jack and Cristina rush Paul to the hospital. Jack tells the police that he was the one who shot Paul, but is released when his story is unable to be confirmed. Paul dies, and the conflict between Cristina and Jack remains unresolved (they meet in the waiting room after Paul's death; if they converse, it is not shown). Cristina learns in the hospital that she is pregnant. After Paul's death, Cristina is seen tentatively preparing for the new child in one of her daughters' bedrooms, which she had previously been unable to enter after her daughters' death; Jack, meanwhile, is shown returning to his family.

Cast

Sean Penn as Paul Rivers
Naomi Watts as Cristina Peck
Danny Huston as Michael
Benicio del Toro as Jack Jordan
Charlotte Gainsbourg as Mary Rivers
John Rubinstein as Gynecologist
Clea DuVall as Claudia
Eddie Marsan as Reverend John
Melissa Leo as Marianne Jordan
Marc Thomas Musso as Freddy
Paul Calderon as Brown
Denis O'Hare as Dr. Rothberg
Kevin Chapman as Alan
Lew Temple as County Sheriff
Carly Nahon as Cathy

Reception

The film was received with much acclaim. 81% of all critics gave the film positive reviews per Rotten Tomatoes. Roger Ebert, for example, questioned the use of non-linear narrative, but praised the acting and said of the film overall: "It grips us, moves us, astonishes us." Elvis Mitchell also praised the acting and called the film "an extraordinarily satisfying vision" that "may well be the crowning work of this year."

The film was also a success with audiences, garnering a worldwide gross of approximately $60 million after being made for an estimated $20 million.

Awards

The film received nominations at the 2003 Academy Awards for Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role (Benicio del Toro) and Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role (Naomi Watts).

Award	Category	Recipient
Academy Awards	Best Actress	Naomi Watts
Academy Awards	Best Supporting Actor	Benicio del Toro
BAFTA Awards	Best Actor	Benicio del Toro
BAFTA Awards	Best Actor	Sean Penn
BAFTA Awards	Best Actress	Naomi Watts
BAFTA Awards	Best Editing	Stephen Mirrione
BAFTA Awards	Best Screenplay " Original	Guillermo Arriaga
Broadcast Film Critics	Best Actress	Naomi Watts
Broadcast Film Critics	Best Actor	Benicio del Toro
Florida Film Critics	Best Actor	Sean Penn
Florida Film Critics	Best Actress	Naomi Watts
Las Vegas Film Critics	Best Actor	Sean Penn (also for Mystic River)
Los Angeles Film Critics	Best Actress	Naomi Watts
National Board of Review	Best Actor	Sean Penn (also for Mystic River)
Online Film Critics	Best Actress	Naomi Watts
Online Film Critics	Best Director	Alejandro González Iñárritu
Online Film Critics	Best Screenplay " Original	Guillermo Arriaga
Phoenix Film Critics	Best Actress	Naomi Watts
Phoenix Film Critics	Best Cast	Cast
Phoenix Film Critics	Best Actor	Sean Penn
Phoenix Film Critics	Best Supporting Actor	Benicio del Toro
Phoenix Film Critics	Best Editing	Stephen Mirrione
Phoenix Film Critics	Best Screenplay " Original	Guillermo Arriaga
Satellite Awards	Best Actor " Drama	Sean Penn (also for Mystic River)
Satellite Awards	Best Actress " Drama	Naomi Watts
Satellite Awards	Best Supporting Actor " Drama	Benicio del Toro
Satellite Awards	Best Screenplay " Original	Guillermo Arriaga
Screen Actors Guild (SAG)	Best Actor	Benicio del Toro
Screen Actors Guild (SAG)	Best Actress	Naomi Watts
Southeastern Film Critics	Best Actress	Naomi Watts
Venice Film Festival	Coppa Volpi (Best Actor)	Sean Penn
Washington DC Area Film Critics	Best Actress	Naomi Watts
Washington DC Area Film Critics	Best Supporting Actor	Benicio del Toro
Washington DC Area Film Critics	Best Screenplay " Original	Guillermo Arriaga
World Soundtrack Awards	Discovery of the Year	Gustavo Santaolalla