Crash
Rarely do I find myself equally liking and disliking a movie but
that is exactly where I find myself with Crash, Paul Haggis'
first film following the critically acclaimed Million Dollar
Baby. Crash follows a group of people in L.A. as their lives
collide unexpectedly and violently over a forty-eight hour
period.
Crash works because it takes an honest and serious look at
racial, ethnic and class relations in Los Angeles a city that is
the epicenter of such tensions. Instead of just offering the
same overused and overdone stereotypes, Crash forces you to look
at what we think we know about these issues and forces you to
look at them from a point of view that may not have previously
considered.
The movie is helped in part by the amazing performances of the
cast. As star studded as the cast is that doesn't necessarily
guarantee great acting but in Crash the actors more then deliver
and there is more then one Oscar worthy performance in the film.
Don Cheadle is outstanding as usual as a hardworking detective
whose mother loves his thug younger brother then she does him.
Matt Dillon is more then convincing as a bigoted cop who is
caring for his ailing father and Sandra Bullock's performance as
the wasp wife of the district attorney who is very honest about
her contempt and fear of anyone who doesn't look like her is
arguably the best of her career. It's easy to forget that
Bullock is a pretty good actress considering her recent choices
in films (think Miss Congeniality 1 and 2 come to mind) and
rarely have we seen her in a dramatic role, but she does an
excellent job here that is more than worthy of a little gold
man.
Crash doesn't work because in order to tell its tale it relies
too heavily on coincidence. The movie wants you to believe that
all of these lives intersect in a two day span in a way that
irrevocably changes everyone's life and for many their view of
the world. I realize that L.A. is a small town in that everybody
knows somebody but give me a break. I don't think Matt Dillon's
character is the only cop in the city or Michael Pena is the
only locksmith. I don't believe Terrance Howard's was one of two
people driving a black navigator or one of the young thugs just
happens to have a cop for a brother. The movie tries hard to
make you believe that all the coincidences are possible but it
just doesn't work.
I can accept that the lives of these characters intersect here
and there but the movies insistence that they all connect in
some way takes away the level of reality that the movie strives
so hard to achieve. Everyone fitting in this nice little circle
rings false and is actually completely unnecessary to the
telling of the story.
Crash also suffers because it offers little to no analysis of
these issues. It more or less says, "Here it is do with it what
you may." I didn't expect answers and would have been very
disappointed had the film tried to offer any but if offers very
little in the way of hope and when you lay such heavy material
on an audience you should at least offer some hope that things
can and will be better.
Despite these criticisms Crash is a must see movie. I think in a
country that has managed to convince itself that race issues no
longer exist this film is a stark reminder that that is far from
reality and that there is still a lot that needs to be done and
that should be done. Often we don't have the opportunity or we
simply don't want to look at the world outside of the little box
we have created for ourselves. Crash forces you to look outside
of that box and in the end I believe you will be better for it.