Latino Themes in “21 Grams”

Plot Summary

“21 Grams” is an intense drama about love, life, revenge, and death. The plot drives from one incident. A born-again christen ex-con, Jack Jordan, (Del Toro) runs over two little girls and their father on his way home. However overtaken by panic and fear he leaves the family in the street to die. The ex-heroine addict wife and mother of the family, Christina Peck, (Naomi Watts) now must sign a contract for her husband to be as a heart donor for a terminally ill mathematician Paul Rivers (Sean Penn). Rivers then hires a private detective to find out who was his heart donor. The private eye leads him to Peck when Rivers falls in love with her. The two begin a romantic relationship. Peck, never convicting Jordan of his crime now asks Rivers to have his private eye find Jordan and later kill him. The two search for Jordan. Jordan ridden with guilt is unable to live with his wife and children and leaves to find work in a different town. The three meet in the end for an intense climax.

Latino Themes

“21 Grams” is an intense, stream of conscious style film that challenges and moves an audience. It is an amazing movie. It has such gripping universal themes such as love, hate, revenge, and death. The portrayal of these themes makes the viewer explore what life, death, and love is about. However, there are no significant portrayals of Latinos or Latino issues. The cast is predominantly white with few minority characters. It the character is a minority then he/she is either poor, a gangster, a drug user, or working class. Even though Gonzalez Iñárritu is from Mexico as well as the screenplay writer, Guillermo Arriaga, there are no representations of specific Latino issues. It seems that Arriaga and Gonzalez Iñárritu are falling into the elitist mainstream Cinema. Yet the movie is not very mainstream or a huge stereotypical blockbuster hit. It is very complex and challenges an audience. Also the themes are so universal that all kinds of audiences can enjoy the film. It has a gripping story and moral. However, their first film together dealt with issues in Mexico City, was in Spanish, and had a predominately Latino cast and it was international hit. Yet the difference between these two movies is that it is that one was made as an independent film and the other in Hollywood. The Hollywood movie is more mainstream. Even though it seems that Gonzalez Iñárritu compromised his identity to create a successful Hollywood film, it may not be so. That fact that his name appears on the credits for being responsible for such a great film is a testament to the Latino community. It shows that Latinos have the skill, intelligence, and creativity to make amazing films, especially when they are not about a huge part of their identity.

Review of “21 Grams”

Summary of Plot

Review

By: Natalie Ramirez

I believe that this is a great film. The plot is so riveting that I had chills at the end of the movie. Even though it was hard for me to relate to the movie, I was able to understand the trills and tribulations of the characters. I especially liked Benicio Del Toro’s character Jack Jordan. You could really feel his internal anguish when questioning his fate and faith, the very things that saved him from continuing a life of crime. Also Naomi Watts’ performance was superb. Her anguish was so real and personal. It was as if you were watching one of your good friends go through the pain of losing their family. However, I wasn’t very impressed with Sean Penn’s performance. Usually he is amazing but his acting seemed weak. It could also be attributed that his character was dying. Also the cinematography is stunning. It is very dark and extreme, just like the movie. Another wonderful aspect of the movie is that it does not flow I chronological order, it is very stream of consciousness. It makes the plot more interesting and keeps the audience engaged. I recommend watching this film.

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