21 Grams
May 2004 Reviewed by: Anthony Di Marco Format: DVD	(all ratings out of 5): Overall Enjoyment Picture Quality Packaged Extras Sound Quality

Shakespeare defined life as a stage on which all humans are actors. Writer Guillermo Arriaga defines life as less about acting and more about surviving. In Arriaga’s world how we live life defines how we leave it. The key to surviving is to retain one’s soul.

Paul Rivers sits at the center of 21 Grams. Sick, barely holding on to life, Paul awaits a heart transplant while his self-interested wife attempts to salvage his sperm in hopes of becoming pregnant. Her motives seem genuine at first. One soon finds that she isn’t doing it to preserve Paul’s memory; she is doing it to make sure she gets something out of the relationship. Their marriage is superficial, stagnant, and devoid of true love. There is nothing that either of them has sacrificed for the other. Paul’s body and soul are dying. Across town, Cristina Peck has a life that is the polar opposite of Paul’s: a loving spouse, a healthy relationship, and children born of true love. Her life, by all measures, is perfect, yet untested. An ex-convict, Jack Jordan, is about to change all that. He sees redemption through God, and his commitment is unquestionable, his uncompromising approach terrifying. Deep down, Jordan knows his soul is damned; no amount of penance or pledges to God will save him. Although he still walks and breathes, he believes that his life has ended. Despite this, Jack Jordan will afford Paul Rivers the means to repair his soul, and Cristina Peck a way of rediscovering hers.

The non-linear storytelling is jarring at first. Give it a chance, though, and this compelling puzzle will pull you in. 21 Grams is not a happy film. Like Monster’s Ball, it is full of tragedy and raw emotion. The acting is superb. The mechanics of how these three individuals cross paths is rudimentary. The way in which the characters behave is not. Sean Penn, Benicio Del Toro, and Naomi Watts are utterly convincing in a story that easily could have collapsed into corny melodrama. Penn’s brilliance is in his mastery of nuance. The way Paul Rivers reacts with his eyes and the way his face moves, as he follows Cristina Peck into a store and tells the clerk he’s forgotten his wallet, is pitch perfect. Cristina Peck’s reaction to tragedy shows how Watts can convey anger and profound sadness without resorting to exaggerated emotion. And Benicio Del Toro injects his trademark brand of simmering passion in every word uttered. The level of acting craft in this film is extraordinary.

The video quality is good. As in Monster’s Ball, Rodrigo Prieto’s gritty cinematography favors browns, blacks, and desaturated colors. This is not a reference-quality presentation. MPEG artifacts are apparent throughout the film, while some long shots are a little too soft. However, 21 Grams’ image follows the same path as Radio and The Thorn Birds by transcending its shortcomings with a very warm and rich appearance.

I could not detect a huge difference between the DTS and Dolby Digital 5.1 mixes. This is a dialogue-driven film with a moderate amount of ambient surround information. Gustavo Santaolalla’s score borrows a number of ideas from the more accomplished effort of Asche and Spencer. Where Monster’s Ball’s soundtrack is a model of organic flow, 21 Grams feels a bit forced and fragmented. Still, composer Santaolalla does a very nice job complimenting the emotional arc of 21 Grams without overdoing it.

The absolute absence of extras on such an interesting film is a huge disappointment. I cannot believe that no one on the cast or crew was available to offer some insight or anecdotes into the cavernous backdrop of this film. Although it is a myth, it would have been interesting to explore how the idea of "21 grams" originated as the weight of the human soul.

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