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).
21
Grams follows
three strangers who find their lives suddenly bound together by a tragic
accident. Paul Rivers (Sean Penn) is a college professor in desperate need of a
transplant. Cristina Peck (Naomi Watts) is a recovered addict who's turned
her life around to become a loving wife and mother. Jack Jordan (Benicio Del
Toro), is an ex-con who rediscovers religion while struggling to rebuild
a life for his wife and young children.
The structure of the
film makes the audience work hard to understand what is happening, which is
unusual for Hollywood films. This is achieved by the director’s choice of
structuring the film non- chronologically.
The film deals with the themes of death
and rebirth. The chaotic interaction of these two themes is vividly echoed by
the film’s “patchwork” depictions of the unfolding events.
The film starts more or less with the end
of the story which is not very usual. And from there on the audience has to put
the pictures together to form the complete picture.
The themes of death and rebirth are most
prominently seen in the characters of Paul, Katherine, Laura and Michael Peck.
Paul’s death and rebirth is only possible by the tragic death of Cristina’s
family.
Jack makes unsuccessful attempts to kill
himself but his rebirth is more abstract and it’s shown by his “rebirth” in
Religion. He is always saying that he's duty is with God and that the
accident happened because of God's will.
The other rebirth is at the end of the
film after the chaos when Cristina discovers she is pregnant.
The characterization by the actors was
really good. All the actors managed to capture the pain, angony and personal
struggles of the characters. For example, when Jack's wife is cleaning the
blood on the car and sobbling at the same time.
Paul uses mathematics to try to express
his understanding of the interrelations between death and rebirth. This is most
noticeable when he talks of the boy losing 21 grams and wondering what a gain
of 21 grams is. He does this in a somewhat algebraic sense. This leaves the
viewer with the impression that the gain of 21 grams is his unborn child. This
is underling that it cannot be birth without death, herein lies the cycle of
life. Which is also illustrated in the poem at the end and in the title. 21
grams is the reported weight loss from the deceased that refers to a belief
propagated by the early 20th century by Dr. MacDougall which attempted to show scientific proof of the existence
of the immortal human soul.
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