Rating summary

Movie		5.0
Video		4.5
Audio		4.5
Extras		3.0
Overall		4.0

21 Grams Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov December 27, 2010

Screened at the Venice Film Festival, Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu’s "21 Grams" (2003) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of British distributors Icon Home Entertainment. The supplemental features on the disc include a behind the scenes featurette and the film's original theatrical trailer. In English, with optional English subtitles for the main feature. Region-B "locked".

Whoever looks for the truth deserves punishment for finding it

A terrible accident dramatically changes the lives of a number of different people in Mexican director Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu’s 21 Grams -- an ex-convict and former alcoholic who has accepted God and become a family man, a seriously ill mathematician who at best has only a few months left to live and his wife who wants to have his child, and the mother of two beautiful girls.

Jack Jordan (Benicio Del Toro, Che) has made a lot of mistakes in his life for which he is now paying dearly. But God has given him the strength to become a new man, which is why he constantly praises Him. Even when he loses his job in an upscale golf club -- because a member complains that he has too many tattoos -- Jack thanks God because he believes that He has a plan for him. A couple of days after he is fired, Jack heads back to the golf club to pick up some personal belongings. His former manager sees him and offers to buy him a drink.

Paul Rivers (Sean Penn, Mystic River) desperately needs a heart transplant. If he does not get one soon, he is going to die. His wife, Mary Rivers (Charlotte Gainsbourg, Antichrist), has come back to help -- and have his child. Paul isn’t sure that having a child is a good idea but agrees to see an artificial insemination specialist with Mary. During the meeting, he learns that in the past Mary has had an abortion which is likely to affect her ability to conceive.

Cristina Peck (Naomi Watts, Funny Games) is a former drug addict who has managed to rebuild her life. Now she is the wife of a handsome man and the mother of two beautiful girls. Occasionally, she attends the local Narcotics Anonymous sessions to share her experience and encourage others to keep on fighting.

Jack, Paul, and Cristina’s lives become closely intertwined in a single moment -- Jack accidentally kills Cristina’s family and Paul gets her husband’s heart.

At first Jack runs away from the accident scene, but later on decides to turn himself in. He also begins questioning God. The more time he spends alone with his thoughts, the more depressed he becomes.

Paul recovers and decides to find out where his heart came from. He hires a private detective, who provides him with Cristina’s address. Eventually, he approaches her in a swimming club.

Various family members and friends try to convince Cristina that despite her enormous loss life goes on. But she rejects them and begins taking drugs again. Then, one day, Paul enters Cristina’s life.

Similar to director Inarritu’s critically acclaimed Amores Perros, 21 Grams has a fractured narrative whose various episodes continuously overlap each other creating a notably tense atmosphere. Important bits about the main characters are also revealed in a way that effectively adds to it.

21 Grams does not introduce any groundbreaking new material. But the manner in which the various episodes are linked and director Inarritu’s ability to capture the complex emotions each of the main characters struggles with after the tragedy transform it into an exceptional film.

The acting is superb. Penn is incredible as the dying mathematician who has been given a second chance in life and with it a brand new set of dilemmas. Gainsbourg delivers a wonderfully nuanced performance as his lonely wife. Watts undergoes a powerful character transformation that reveals what an enormously talented actress she is. The film, however, belongs to Del Toro whose character descends into his own personal hell.

*: In 2003, 21 Grams premiered at the Venice Film Festival. A year later, the film earned Oscar nominations for Best Actress in a Leading Role (Naomi Watts) and Best Actor in a Supporting Role (Benicio Del Toro).

21 Grams Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in its original aspect ratio of 1.85:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu's 21 Grams arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of British distributors Icon Home Entertainment.

This is a wonderful high-definition transfer. The film's gritty look -- accomplished by various contrast, clarity and color manipulations -- now really comes alive. There is an entirely new set of various shades and color tweaks that are now a lot easier to appreciate. The jerky camera moves are also much more effective -- on the R1 DVD a lot of them looked smeary, here they are well detailed. The numerous close-ups also look substantially better. This being said, I noticed traces of extremely mild edge-enhancement, but given the film's edgy look it is quite difficult to tell how much of the extra sharpening isn't intentional. Finally, there are absolutely no stability issues. There are no large cuts, damage marks, or stains to report in this review either. To sum it all up, this Blu-ray release represents a very strong upgrade over the existing R1 DVD of 21 Grams. (Note: This is a Region-B "locked" Blu-ray disc. Therefore, you must have a native Region-B or Region-Free PS3 or SA in order to access its content).

21 Grams Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There are two audio tracks on this Blu-ray disc: English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 and English LPCM 2.0. For the record, Icon Home Entertainment have provided optional English subtitles for the main feature.

The English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track is great. Though its dynamic amplitude is quite limited, it is wonderfully nuanced. Gustavo Santaolalla's score in particular benefits greatly from the loseless treatment. The dialog is crisp, clean, stable, and exceptionally easy to follow. Finally, I did not detect any disturbing pops, cracks, hissings, or audio dropouts to report in this review.

21 Grams Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Trailer - the original theatrical trailer for 21 Grams. In English, not subtitled. (2 min, PAL).

• Behind the Scenes - a standard featurette in which director Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu's explains how 21 Grams came to exist. Various cast and crew members also discuss the film. In English, not subtitled. (19 min, PAL).

21 Grams Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Simply put, Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu's 21 Grams is a perfect film. It is bold, gritty, uncompromising, and absolutely impossible to forget. The Blu-ray disc herein reviewed, courtesy of British distributors Icon Home Entertainment, looks and sounds terrific. It is also very attractively priced. I strongly encourage you to add 21 Grams to your libraries. VERY HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.