Crash

Provocative psychological drama

Peoples of differing ethnicities and social-economic levels 'crash' into each other in Los Angeles over a day or so at Christmas time. These people include:

A white cop who's angry over the downside of affirmative action and so abuses his authority (Matt Dillon); his young white partner who objects to the abuse and actively tries to counteract it (Ryan Phillipe); a black TV director who feels emasculated over the racism he experiences and ultimately blows up (Terrence Howard); his light-skinned wife who doesn't know when to shutteth up (Thandie Newton); an Hispanic locksmith (Michael Peña) and his young daughter with an ‘impenetrable invisible cloak’; a Persian shopkeeper who needs a scapegoat after his store is horribly vandalized, not to mention his daughter and wife; two black car thieves (Ludacris and Larenz Tate), the latter the younger brother of a detective, Graham (Don Cheadle); Graham's beautiful partner and girlfriend, Ria (Jennifer Esposito), and her mother, a maid to the District Attorney (Brendan Fraser) and his wife (Sandra Bullock); an Asian man who’s hospitalized and his frantic wife racing to see whether he's alive or dead.

"Crash" is reminiscent of another L.A. drama, the 1991 masterpiece "Grand Canyon," but has enough nuances to stand on its own. For one thing, "Crash" is even more serious and dark.

This is an involved story with several interwoven story lines; it ain't no mindless popcorn 'blockbuster.' A casual viewing won't cut it. It's not that kind of picture. Most of the negative criticisms about the film are by people who didn't watch closely and then lambaste it with criticisms that aren't even legitimate.

For one thing, the film is about more than racism; it's about stereotypes, hypocrites, abuse of power, the capacity for good or bad in every human soul, second chances, passive correction and shame, self-sacrifice, redemption, forgiveness, the last straw, manhood & emasculation, giv...

Set against the background of a racially diverse Los Angeles, this follows the activities of a (not exactly random) selection of people whose lives unexpectedly intertwine over a day and a night in the city. The city's DA (Brendan Fraser) is a shrewd politician who will use whatever tools he can to stay in office whilst his over-indulged wife (Sandra Bullock) - they were the recent victims of an all-black carjacking - only thinly veils her disdain for people of colour excusing that on the basis of her recent experience rather than some more fundamentally philosophical attitude. Meantime, the rather odious cop "Ryan" (Matt Dillon) takes the concept of a body search a little too far when he stops "Cameron" (Terrence Howard) and his wife "Christine" (Thandiwe Newton) - disgusting (or does he?) his newbie partner "Hanson" (Ryan Phillipe) in the process. Meantime, detective "Graham" (Don Cheadle) and his partner/occasional friend-with-benefits "Ria" (Jennifer Esposito) are on the case of what might be another racially motivated crime and finally, amongst the principals, there are the two jackers themselves whom we are gradually exposed more to as their antics once again touch on the lives of this disparate collection of people. Now with these often quite polar opposite stalls largely set out, auteur Paul Haggis starts to weave and the result is something of an hybrid of the plausible and the less so; the generic and the stereotypical mixed with the creative and the imaginative. It's in that way and with the support of some characterful performances we get a glimpse of what life might look like in an huge conurbation where you'd think anonymity would be the currency, but where so often the opposite applies. This also doesn't shy away from illustrating the hypocrisies of a society that offers a veneer of "acceptance" yet simmers over one of deep-rooted mistrust and resentment. That resentment isn't just based on colour, but on social status and sexual dynamics and as the i...