“Alejandro González Iñárritu’s new film, ’21 Grams,’ takes its name from the inexplicable loss of weight a body undergoes at the moment of death and focuses on the events leading up to and away from an accident in which several people lose their lives. But don’t suggest to Iñárritu that his film is about death.

‘I think it’s about hope,’ he says — the struggle to find hope in the face of loss.

Stretched taut between those extremes, the film — starring Sean Penn, Naomi Watts and Benicio Del Toro and featuring cinematographer Rodrigo Prieto’s unsettling hand-held-camera work — strikes an edgy, unrelenting chord. Its confrontation with death throws life into sharp relief.” — Amy Reiter, Salon