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21 Grams A year ago, when I previewed 2003's upcoming movies, I said that 'City Of God' could well have been last year's 'Amores Perros' and I urged anyone who hadn't seen Alejandro González Iñárritu's's directorial debut to rush out and rent it. Well now he's back and in 2003 he's turned his attention towards mainstream Hollywood, with his debut English speaking feature - and it appears that A-list stars were just falling over themselves to appear in it for him. '21 Grams', like it's predecessor, uses a traffic accident as the focal point of the story. However, unlike '..Perros', this film does not rely on flashbacks to lead up the crash but prefers to tell it's story in a totally non-linear fashion. We see some scenes set before the accident and some scenes that are set well after the accident; we meet characters that have had their lives totally transformed by the accident and then revisit them, a few scenes later and see how they were before the accident, blissfully unaware of the pain that lies in wait for them. It may sound confusing, but in truth, it works beautifully. Every single scene stands up on it's own as a work of art and, lets face it, they have to; as a viewer, we have no idea how these scenes fit into the story as a whole, so therefore it would be easy to just switch off and go and watch the latest no-brainer from Michael Bay. And that would be a huge travesty. Like 'Memento' from a few years ago, '21 Grams' demands your attention and the pay-off is wonderful. As the story's strands come together in the movie's second half, we begin to realise just what an effect our actions can have on complete strangers, sometimes without us even realising it. The performances all deserved Oscar's frankly, but I'm delighted that Sean Penn finally got the award he's so richly deserved over the last few years. Naomi Watts is cashing in on her rising star, proving herself to be a fine actress in the process and Benicio Del Toro is simply superb - by far the best character actor of his generation. Just watch his opening scene - a wonderful portrayal of a man who is striving to be more than just a mass of contradictions, by trying to do the right thing and knowing that he's just a single step away from doing the wrong thing, yet again.. A truly stunning performance. '21 Grams' is hardly what you'd call a popcorn movie and it's certainly not one for a midnight showing, after a night in the pub but it's stands head and shoulders above all other films released so far this year. 9/10 Sean G
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