Taglines: The gravity of life.
Explores the emotionally and physically charged existences of three characters: Christina (Naomi Watts), Paul (Sean Penn), and Jack (Benicio Del Toro). Initially not even acquainted, the trio and their destinies become irrevocably intertwined in a fusion of love, redemption, and obsession. 21 Grams is the weight we lose when we die, the weight carried by those who survive. 21 Grams: the gravity of life.
21 Grams is a film from the Academy Award-nominated director of Amores Perros, Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu. It is a story of hope and humanity, of resilience and survival. Whether you fear death or not, it comes, and at that moment your body becomes twenty-one grams lighter. Is it a person’s soul that constitutes those twenty-one grams? Is that weight carried by those who survive us?
The lead actors in 21 Grams are three-time Academy Award nominee Sean Penn, Academy Award winner Benicio Del Toro, and award-winning actress Naomi Watts. The actors were all honored at the film’s world premiere at the 2003 Venice International Film Festival, where Sean Penn won Best Actor and Benicio Del Toro and Naomi Watts earned the Audience Awards for Best Actor and Actress.
21 Grams, written by Guillermo Arriaga (Amores Perros), explores the emotionally and physically charged existences of three people over a period of several months. An accident unexpectedly throws their lives and destinies together, in a story that will take them to the heights of love, the depths of revenge, and the promise of redemption.
College professor Paul Rivers (Sean Penn) and his wife Mary (Charlotte Gainsbourg) find their union precariously balanced between life and death. He is mortally ill and awaiting a heart transplant, while she hopes to become pregnant with his child through artificial insemination.
Read the Full Production Notes
Directed by: Alejandro González Iñárritu
Starring: Sean Penn, Benicio Del Toro, Naomi Watts, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Danny Huston, Claire Pakis, Melissa Leo
Screenplay by: Guillermo Arriaga
Production Design by: Brigitte Broch
Cinematography by: Rodrigo Prieto
Film Editing by: Stephen Mirrione
Costume Design by: Marlene Stewart
Set Decoration by: Meg Everist
Music by: Gustavo Santaolalla
MPAA Rating: R for language, sexuality, some violence, drug use.
Studio: Focus Features
Release Date: November 21, 2003
