 | ON: Content is age-appropriate for kids this age. |
 | PAUSE: Know your child; some content may not be right for some kids. |
 | OFF: Not age-appropriate for kids this age. |
 | NOT FOR KIDS: Not appropriate for kids any age. |
21 Grams
- Review Date: April 26, 2004
- R
- Genre: Drama
- 2003
Common Sense Media says
Thought-provoking film not for tweens/young teens.
Parents say
QUALITY
Kids say
What parents need to know
Parents need to know that this film includes tragic deaths and brutal violence with gory wounds. There are explicit sexual references and situations, including nudity and a brief glimpse of a porno film. Characters drink, smoke, and use drugs. A character attempts suicide. There is very strong language.
What's the story?
In 21 GRAMS, a terrible collision shatters more than the lives of three people. It shatters the very narrative of the story itself. Director Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu conveys the fractured disorientation of the three main characters with clusters of brief scenes that act as a mosaic, gradually revealing what happened in that devastating moment and how it affected the events and emotions that followed, even the impact on the very identities of the people involved. Paul (Sean Penn) is dying. His heart is failing. His wife wants to find a way to have his child. Jack (Benicio Del Toro) is struggling. He has come out of prison with a fierce new religious faith that has his wife and children a little uneasy. Christina (Naomi Watts) is happy. She has overcome a substance abuse problem and is living happily with her husband and daughters. Then a corner is turned. A driver -- maybe in too much of a hurry to get to a birthday party, maybe having had a drink -- hits three pedestrians. Lives are lost. Another life is restored. Another is devastated. Is there a way to go on?
Is it any good?
Penn gives one of the most sensitive performances of his career. He usually plays characters who are not as smart as he is, but here he is completely convincing as a math professor, and he shows us an extraordinary range of subtle and complex emotions. Watts and Del Toro are also outstanding. Inarritu uses a hand-held camera and directs with a simple, intimate, very pure feeling similar in style to the Dogma 95 movies.
Explore, discuss, enjoy
Families can talk about why Inarritu chose to tell the story this way. How would its impact have been different if told in a more conventional structure?
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Adult
April 9, 2008
AGE
This movie encompasses almost every tragic situation that could ever happen in life. This film is very intense, and depressing. Three lives come together in a tragic turn of events and is a rollercoaster of heartbreak. If you don't want to be depressed for the rest of the day, do not see this film, it is not for the lighthearted.
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Teen, 15 years old
July 25, 2009
AGE
Wish I Hadn't Seen It
Extreme amounts of sexual nudity
Strong language throughout
Somewhat sacrilege
What other families should know:
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Adult
May 26, 2010
AGE
This seems like a thought provoking movie, and I think I will be viewing it soon!
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| Studio: | Focus Features |
| Director: | Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu |
| Cast: | Benicio Del Toro, Naomi Watts, Sean Penn |
| Genre: | Drama |
| Run time: | 125 minutes |
| Theatrical release date: | November 20, 2003 |
| DVD release date: | March 15, 2004 |
| MPAA rating: | R |
| MPAA explanation: | language, sexuality, some violence and drug use. |
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