This is a truly outstanding movie, and watching it is like being on the proverbial emotional rollercoaster.
Sean Penn is Paul, a critically ill mathematician; Benicio Del Toro is Jack, a former convict now trying to help rehabilitate young offenders; and Naomi Watts is Christina, a young mother and wife, with a murky past. These three unconnected people move into each other’s orbit due to a horrific car crash which impacts on all of them in different ways. All three leads are great, but Del Toro and Watts in particular are simply outstanding.
This film deals with grief, passion, love, guilt and anger. It had me hooked from beginning to end. The first 30 or 40 minutes are somewhat confusing, as it shows segments of the lives of all three characters, but they are shown totally out of sequence, jumping backwards and forwards in time. I watched, imagining that it would all come together and make sense, and it did so, about 45 minutes in.
It was one of those rare movies that left me feeling emotionally drained – the way it is shot out of sequence is unusual, and I couldn’t tear myself away from it, even to make a cup of coffee!
I had this movie on my shelf for a long time, and wasn’t really sure that I felt like watching it – however, I am extremely glad that I did so, and will definitely be watching it again.
Year of release: 2003
Director: Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu
Writer: Guillermo Arriaga
Main cast: Sean Penn, Benicio Del Toro, Naomi Watts
Between the Pages 
I really liked this movie when I saw it. (I like Sean Penn in most of his movies and Benicio del Toro is usually outstanding as he is in this movie.) My wife, though, I think hated it. She doesn't like the "dark" movies…I've also heard the director of this movie also directed Babel, of which I have heard good things. I think it's about No. 15 or so in my Netflix queue, but maybe I'll move it up now that you've reminded me about it in a roundabout way. Thanks.
I haven't seen Babel either, but it is one of my brother's favourite movies, and we tend to have similar taste, so I'm planning to pick it up next weekend.