| Cast overview, first billed only: | |||
| Sean Penn | ... | ||
| Naomi Watts | ... | ||
| Danny Huston | ... | ||
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Carly Nahon | ... | |
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Claire Pakis | ... |
Laura
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| Benicio Del Toro | ... | ||
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Nick Nichols | ... |
Boy
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| Charlotte Gainsbourg | ... | ||
| John Rubinstein | ... |
Gynecologist
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| Eddie Marsan | ... | ||
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Loyd Keith Salter | ... |
Fat Man
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Antef A. Harris | ... |
Basketball Guy
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| Melissa Leo | ... | ||
| Marc Musso | ... |
Freddy
(as Marc Thomas Musso)
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| Teresa Delgado | ... | ||
This is the story of three well-meaning but flawed people: Paul Rivers, an ailing mathematician lovelessly married to an English émigré; Christina Peck, an upper-middle-class suburban housewife, happily married homemaker with two young daughters, with hiding a secret past; and Jack Jordan, an ex-convict who has found in his Christian faith the strength to live a law-abiding life and raise a family. They will be brought together by a terrible accident that will change their lives. By the final frame, none of them will be the same as they will have learnt harsh truths about love, faith, courage, desire and guilt, and how chance can change our worlds irretrievably, forever. Written by Miguel Cane ([email protected])
21 Grams features performances by Sean Penn, Benecio Del Torro and Naomi Watts that are remarkable not only for their believability, but also for the range of gut wrenching emotion they bring to bear. Telling his story almost violently out of sequence, Iñárritu makes no apology for presenting information in a manner that is often abrupt and/or confusing. His choice to juxtapose a myriad of images to reveal the complexities and subtleties of the characters challenges the viewer even as it elevates the story.
Each of the three main characters faces a series of crises that unfold in the fullness of Iñárritu's version of time. By so carefully painting characters' surroundings along with their reactions to the events that change their lives, lead characters are stripped to the bone. The supporting cast is nothing short of miraculous (notably Clea Duvall, Charlotte Gainsborg and Melissa Leo) and completes a wonderfully complex series of portraits of the three main characters.
Like few films in recent memory, 21 Grams fully reveals what it is to be human in the clutches of life's most challenging moments.