Hey folks, Harry here... While the world's eye is tuned to Toronto, the Neon Monkey was in Montreal watching... 21 GRAMS, one of the most anticipated movies of the year... Alejandro González Iñárritu's follow-up to AMORES PERROS. The review seems very positive, but a slight bit underplayed. Here ya go...
I sent in a review a few of years ago for a little British movie called "Twice Upon a Yesterday". Now, thanks to the Montreal World Film Festival I got to check out a movie that people will actually want to see, Alejandro González Iñárritu's "21 Grams". Our neighbours in Toronto get more hype for their festival because of the larger Hollywood presence but Montreal is interesting because it consists of almost exclusively international fare. The only two films on the programme that most people might actually recognize are "21 Grams" and Van Sant's "Elephant".
On to the film - glad I saw it, enjoyed the experience but I didn't quite enjoy it enough to see it again anytime soon. The film revolves around the lives of a terminally ill mathematician (Sean Penn), a recovering drug addict (Naomi Watts), and an ex-convict who has found God (Benicio del Toro). The film begins depicting the lives of these three characters separately but provides glimpses as to how they will connect in the future after a car accident affects them all. Admittedly, the narrative, that switches between the past and the present, can come off a being slightly confusing at the beginning but it doesn't take long to put the pieces together. This is by no means a problem, there were just a few scenes in which the audience is left to wonder if we're seeing a past experience of a vision of what is to come.
The acting is top notch across the board. Penn is solid as always as he depicts a character in and out of serious health woes. This also seems to be the first time that del Toro has stepped up to the plate since the critical lauding he received for "Traffic". His character alternates between tragic, pitiful, and angry in a convincing manner. Watt's is also strong, particularly in her touching scenes with Penn as they begin to develop a relationship.
The score is also well-done. Vaguely reminiscent of "Amores Perros" without the Spanish-language pop tunes that tended to bring me out of that film. Not because they were in Spanish but because they came off like a thematic crutch that wasn't needed. Not a problem here with an understated score that doesn't draw too much attention to itself.
So, all seems to be good, right? Not quite. Once the pieces all fall into place midway through the film, it could have benefited from some tighter editing as the last hour or so loses some of the momentum developed early in the picture. I think this is largely due to the narrative structure Iñárritu has chosen to employ. Films like "Pulp Fiction" and "Memento" used the interweaving, non-chronological narrative to their advantage but I think it's starting to tread a dangerous line. For example, the flash forwards in the film may contribute to the pacing problems in the last act. Since we're given a pretty good idea of where things are going, we're left waiting for things to happen instead of watching them happen. It can feel a bit like a gimmick and can make an otherwise good film feel almost predictable since there's no longer a doubt where it's heading.
My criteria for judging a movie is often the DVD. One of the first things that occurs to me as I walk out of the theatre is whether or not I'll want to add the film to my DVD collection. This one gets a maybe - leaning towards a no. It's a sad film with deliberate pacing that might go well on a quiet evening when you're in a low key mood but likely won't maintain interest for repeated viewings.
The Neon Monkey
