Collision

Like Altman's classic Short Cuts, and Anderson's Magnolia, Crash, by writer/director Paul Haggis weaves a tale of multiple characters through the web of streets we have come to know as Los Angeles. Unlike those other two films this one has a very specific theme to explore. From the opening line uttered by Don Cheadle we know this is to be a film about how people relate, and from the interchange that follows between Jennifer Esposito and Alexis Rhee (pretty sure she plays the Korean female driver who rear-ended her) how people relate tends to be ruled by first impressions or prejudice.

Race is paramount in this film, and all our preconceptions of who people are get twisted and turned through the intricate plot. With each new additional character we find another assumption, another stereotype, and then watch as that preconception is obliterated as the character develops. It is a credit to the deftly written script, tight direction and exceptional acting talent that every one of these many characters is fully realized on screen without ever feeling one-dimensional.

I would love to discuss some of the details of what happens to explain how well it is done, but part of the magic of this film is allowing yourself to be taken on this ride. Mind you, this isn't a ride of pleasure. The first half of this film is unrelentingly in its ferociousness. I could literally feel my rage at some of the characters forming to a fever pitch. The fear and hatred I was confronting wasn't just on the screen, but in the pit of my stomach. And in one absolutely brilliant moment I was literally sobbing at the expectation of horror unfolding, only to be cathartically released in a most unexpected way.

Mr. Haggis was in attendance at the screening I saw and explained that the idea for this film came to him one night sometime after 9/11 at about 2a.m. when his own memories of a car- jacking experience from 10 years before wouldn't leave him alone. Clearly this film was his way of relieving those demons of memory, using the catharsis of his art to unleash them and in doing so has given to all viewers of cinema an opportunity to examine our own preconceptions about race relations and how we treat each other and think of ourselves. He mentioned in the discussion after-wards that he likes to make films that force people to confront difficult issues. Films that ask people to think after the film has ended and not just leave saying: "that was a nice film".

This isn't a "nice" film, and I would expect that it will provoke many a discussion in the ensuing weeks when it opens nation-wide. It's a discussion long overdue for this country, and it took a Canadian to bring the issue to the fore in this brilliant, thought provoking film.

This movie is bad on so many levels, it's hard to know where to begin and could never all be covered in one review. Never mind the fact that only an amateur audience mistakes forced melodrama and abundant clichés for award winning acting, writing, or directing for now.

This movie proposes that everyone acts and reacts to everyone according to race. It pushes and stomps the idea that white people are always rich, racist, and afraid of other races. And a few non-whites aren't always perfect. If there was such a thing as politically correct police in the world, this would be the movie people would be forced to watch in prison.

Movies that do peoples thinking for them sure get old. And this kind of movie doesn't unite anyone. It sparks issues that people who know how to speak for themselves and have their own brain, have already gotten past.

Whatever tired p.c. ideological point this garbage tries to make, it's been done to death. This bludgeons the dead horse, mutilates the carcass, then spoon feeds the rest of it down the throat of anyone who happened to watch.

I do not want to do an in-depth analysis of this film. Rather, I'll point out what I consider makes it a very poor effort: the script. The same guy who did the script for CRASH also did the script for MILLION DOLLAR BABY. Both won the Oscar for best picture. I must be pretty out of touch to criticize this guy, but here goes. The main problem is that every character is "invented". That is, each character is so obviously the product of a fertile (and I am using that word kindly) imagination. In CRASH the politician and his wife are absolute stereotypes. They speak the most inane lines, like from a comic book or low-grade soap opera. The two cops are similarly contrived. One is a good guy and one is a bad guy. One is an idealist. One is a cynical veteran. I imagine such categories of cops do exist, but to give them life it takes someone who knows the genres, like Joseph Wambaugh. (In fact, to see how really bad CRASH is, just compare it to THE ONION FIELD). We also have the two foul-mouthed gang-banging black youth, hell bent on insanity. Big deal. Anyone can produce such characters. There is the misunderstood, good-guy Mexican plumber, who just happens to love his young daughter oh so much. Etc. Etc. Each character has the depth of a comic-book creation. They all speak in litanies of clichés. The plot too is just a clever manage of intersections. It is so obviously the product of the next cup of coffee or cigarette. It is cleverness without depth or substance. Christ, that this film won best picture just begs belief.

While I am getting in my two cents here, MILLION DOLLAR BABY is the same cliché-riddled mess. It is obvious that the guy who wrote knew nothing about boxing. The characters are pathetic, lifeless creations.

What has Hollywood come to that such movies walk away with top prize?

Lives, ordinary lives, vital part of a city where, I'm sure, the devil has him home. Contradictory, awful, enlightened, confused. There are so many good moments in "Crash" that I felt the need to see it again less than 24 hours later. Matt Dillon lead us through his own contradiction with the humanity of someone who knows he carries something rotten inside. The explosive dissatisfaction that permeates Sandra Bullock's life is ferociously real and the frustration of Thandie Newton's character is a first on the screen. We've never seen it quite like that and her performance will stay with me. Larenz Tate personifies both sides of the equation, the one who understands but goes against his instincts, and still there are chilling flashes of innocence in his eyes -- his performance reminded me of the wonderful "Seeds Of Tragedy" were his innocence was intact. The problem with "Crash" and it is problem is that remains a rather shallow affair. Cleverly put together but epidermic at best.

After seeing this movie, I was able to really understand what "Six Degrees of Separation" means. There is a thread that weaves its way through the landscape of life connecting, influencing, and defining all. This movie is certainly thought-provoking, one cannot watch it without feeling either privileged to have become part of the fabric, or like a fly on the wall - seeing, yet unable to influence or guide. There is almost a sense of frustration at ones inability to be no more than an observer in this movie since it compels you to want to shout in warning, gasp in shock, cry in sorrow, and hold in comfort. "Crash" is definitely not a movie to use as a venue to escape life for a couple of hours, but it is a movie that certainly makes you take a second and third look at who you are within yourself. The actors are surprising not only for their depth of performance, but also because they do not play characters you think you know. I would highly recommend this movie to anyone who likes drama, action, comedic relief, or just an appreciation for a well-thought out movie.