Movie Night - 21 Grams

Oh my goodness wow.

Stop what you are doing. Yes, stop. It is imperative that you watch 21 Grams starring Sean Penn, Benicio Del Toro, and Naomi Watts.

I should really say that I'm a huge fan of indie (independent), foreign, film festival type flicks. Love them. And 21 Grams is considered of those genres.

So, if you can't stand a movie where you actually have to think, or one that might be a little obscure or strange, give this at least half a chance...but it won't be for everyone.

Watch it if not for the story but the absolutely jaw dropping performances - Del Toro especially.

Directed by Alejandro González Iñárritu and written by Guillermo Arriaga, this 2003 drama focuses on the lives of 3 people who wouldn't have otherwise been known to each other had it not been for a tragic car accident.

"They say we all lose 21 grams at the exact moment of our death...everyone. The weight of a stack of nickels. The weight of a chocolate bar. The weight of a hummingbird..."

Sean Penn is Paul, a mathmetician with a fatal heart condition. Benicio Del Toro is Jack, a recovering drug addict and alcoholic and has recently found Jesus. Naomi Watts is a grieving mother using drugs to ease her pain.

You can click the Wikipedia link I provided above to read the entire plot if you'd like, but I'd rather you just watched the film...a word of warning however:

The movie was filmed chronologically...but edited in a non linear arrangement. Meaning that you may have difficulty following for a the first little bit. Stick with it! The main characters all have their own past, present and future stories, which are a bit fragmented and of course intermingle with each others stories.

Sean Penn, as always, performed impeccably. Naomi Watts impressed me, as I've not seen anything worthwhile from her before. But in my humble opinion, Benecio Del Toro blew them both away big time.

His performance was mind blowing. Truly. He was the character, fully immersed.

21 Grams was nominated for numerous awards including Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Original Screenplay and more. It has won it's fair share of those awards.

The premise behind the title?

In the early 1900's, a Dr. Duncan MacDougall sought to measure the weight supposedly lost by a human body when the soul departs at the moment of death. He weighed dying human subjects (and dogs too!) and his research produced varied figures, but 21 grams has become synonymous with the measure of a soul's mass.

So do I have you convinced? Watch this movie!!