The Third Draft

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Reviewed by Coach Patton
©D. Patton, All Rights Reserved

Written by: Guillermo Arriaga (story) and Alejandro González Iñárritu
Directed by Alejandro González Iñárritu

Runtime: 2:05 Rated R for language, sexuality, some violence and drug use.

PLOT: A freak accident brings together a critically ill mathematician (Penn), a grieving mother (Watts) and a born-again ex-con (Del Toro).

Cast: Sean Penn, Benicio Del Toro, Naomi Watts, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Danny Huston, Clea DuVall, Marc Musso

How much does life weigh?

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 . . .

Mexican director Alejandro Inarritu made a huge impact with his stunning debut, a Spanish-language film Amores Perros (2000) a couple of years ago and 21 Grams is his eagerly-awaited second feature. It’s written by Amores Perros screenwriter Guillermo Amaga and is shot in English, with terrific performances from its cast.

Using a brilliant, highly complex structure, it’s bleak, uncompromising and immensely powerful – as such it’s one of the best films of the year.

Guess How Much Your Soul Weighs . . . The film takes its title from the amount of weight we are said to lose at the time of death – believed by some people to be a consequence of the soul leaving the body.

The plot centers on three characters: Naomi Watts as a bereaved mother tortured by grief and battling a drug addiction; Sean Penn as a math professor with a terminal heart condition; and Benicio Del Toro as an ex-con with a wife and family, who has found God and is in search of redemption. The lives of the three characters are linked by a tragic accident at the heart of the film, an accident which is also the key to understanding the complex structure of the film.

Effectively, it’s as if the impact of the accident itself has completely splintered the narrative around it, so that scenes occur in a seemingly random order and the film trusts the intelligence of the audience to piece together the story.

It’s a bold, challenging move that yields impressive results – for example, during the first part of the film it’s genuinely impossible to tell the order of Sean Penn’s character’s story (though the state of his facial hair provides important clues).

The acting is extraordinary, with all three leads giving career-best performances. Naomi Watts, in particular, gives an emotionally raw, gut-wrenching performance that is almost painful to watch and shows that she is an actress to be reckoned with – to say that she deserves an Oscar really doesn’t do her justice.

Del Toro is also extremely impressive – especially in the latter half of the film. Penn has a trickier role because his character is largely unsympathetic at first, but he does an amazing job. There’s also good support from Charlotte Gainsbourg as Penn’s partner and from Melissa Leo as Del Toro’s wife, as well as, in smaller roles, Clea DuVall and Danny Huston.

The non-linear narrative proves not to be an art house gimmick designed to disguise a lack of substance. There is an organizing principle at work. The story segments, which are often very brief, are ordered along an emotional arc rather than a chronological one. The happier, sunnier scenes occur before we even know about the accident, at the beginning of the film, which then turns darker (often literally), bleaker, and more frenetic. Like in The Limey (1999), our inability to place most of the events along a timeline adds an element of suspenseful intrigue. We can only place ourselves in the hands of the filmmakers and trust that all the pieces will eventually fit together. Through it all, Paul's meditations from a hospital bed provide a loose linking thread.

Few films released in 2003 can boast having as much strength as 21 Grams. It is, in a word, amazing. It's one of those motion pictures that haunts your thoughts and won't let go. Like Memento (2000), it virtually demands a second viewing to understand and appreciate the story's complexity and to recognize the artistry inherent in all of the transitions. Or at least that’s How It Seemed from Where I Sat.

Roll credits

Director: Alejandro González Iñárritu
Producers: Alejandro González Iñárritu, Robert Salerno
Screenplay: Guillermo Arriago
Cinematography: Rodrigo Prieto
Music: Gustavo Santaolalla

CAST:

Sean Penn --- Paul Rivers
Naomi Watts --- Cristina Peck
Benicio Del Toro --- Jack Jordan
Charlotte Gainsbourg --- Mary Rivers
Melissa Leo --- Marianne Jordan
Clea DuVall --- Claudia
Danny Huston --- Michael
Carly Nahon --- Cathy
Claire Pakis --- Laura
John Rubinstein --- Gynecologist
Eddie Marsan --- Reverend John

Fade to black

In The Name Of Truth, Justice and In the Service of A Higher Good, I Remain Your Friend, Movie Reviewer and Spiritual Advisor, Coach Patton

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