| CRASH |
 2004 - USADirector: Paul Haggis - Reviewed by Vickie
Three stories make up the core of the film, and the players are, either directly or peripherally, involved in one or all of them. Story #1 is a car-jacking. It involves the car-jackers (Larenz Tate, Ludacris), who follow the tenet of only stealing from rich, white folks. There are the car-jacking victims, L.A.’s district attorney (Brendan Fraser) and his socialite wife (Sandra Bullock), and there are the police officers (Don Cheadle, Jennifer Esposito) investigating that crime and another one... which overlaps into the second story. That one deals with a racist cop (Matt Dillon), his naïve young partner (Ryan Phillippe) and the black couple (Thandie Newton, Terrence Dashon Howard), who are pulled over and subjected to harassment that eventually eats away at their marriage. The third, but no less powerful, story involves a Persian immigrant (Shaun Toub), his small shop and an unlucky locksmith (Michael Peña) who finds himself the target of years of repressed anger, frustration and despair. Juggling all these characters and ensuring that their stories intertwine in a coherent fashion is no easy task, but director Paul Haggis succeeds all around. He manages to cram in scene after scene of extreme tension and anxiety, and ratchets up the conflict inch by inch until the audience is just waiting, eyes half-closed, for it to explode onscreen. I can’t recall any recent film that has done as good a job of putting its characters into situations where you really and truly cannot guess the outcome in advance. All of the actors are top-notch. Cheadle and Toub are standouts, rapper Ludacris proves himself an engaging screen presence and Matt Dillon is alternately chilling and heartbreaking as a guy whose best intentions are often marred by his inner demons. But the Most Valuable Player trophy has to go to Bullock, who—in a single, brief, jaw-droppingly excellent scene—delivers a speech that not only blows everything else off the screen, but reminds audiences that, you know, she can act her pants off when she wants to. Although you’ll feel good having seen it because it’s incredibly good, Crash isn’t really a feel-good movie, and anyone looking for rainbows and puppies and ice cream might want to look elsewhere. It asks some hard questions, and turns an unflinching eye on some of the harsh realities of life in a racially charged Los Angeles without tying up all its loose ends in a pretty bow. But it’s blessed with a series of fascinating stories, a grinchload of genuinely anxious moments and one kick-ass scene that left me wanting to stand up and cheer for its sheer kick-assedness. |
|
Agree? Disagree? Go to the Forum! | Back to Currently Playing | Back to Toronto 2004 |
|
Home
| Currently Playing | For
Rent | Video Obsession ©2004 Moviepie e-mail us |
Sometimes, great films are buoyed by great performances. Sometimes,
great performances are only a few minutes long. Such is the case with
Crash, a compelling, multi-storyline, ensemble drama, along the
lines of Magnolia or Laurel Canyon, that deals with a
group of Los Angelinos struggling with a singular, central theme. The
theme in question this time is race relations, and the resulting
stories are, not surprisingly, highly charged, emotional and
thought-provoking.
