Blessed is he who in the name of charity and good will shepherds the weak through the valley of dark...
Blessed is he who in the name of charity and good will shepherds the weak through the valley of darkness (...) And I will strike down upon thee with great vengeance and furious anger those who attempt to poison and destroy my brothers.
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Paul Haggis’ (screenwriter of “Million Dollar Baby” (2004)) debut movie is an urban tale, in a mosaic of multiracial characters living in Los Angeles. After seen his own car robbed, Haggis used the experience to write this story and this is the starting point for a movie that could begin with: “Once upon a time…”
Jean and Rick Cabot (Sandra Bullock and Brendan Frasier) are forced out of their car under the threat of a gun by two black guys, Anthony and Peter Waters (Chris “Ludacris” Bridges and Larenz Tate) that, minutes before, discuss about the injustice of the racial stigma in L.A. city. The robbery generates a series of events and coincidences, involving a group of people from different nationalities and cultures representing the Angelenos’ community.
The police give the order to pursue the black Lincoln “Navigator”, exactly the same vehicle owned by Cameron and Christine Thayer (Terrence Dashon Howard and Thandie Newton) that are later stopped by Officer John Ryan (Matt Dillon) and his rookie partner Officer Tom Hansen (Ryan Phillippe). Ryan orders the couple to step out from the car and humiliates them under the incredulity of Hansen.
Rick Cabot is a district attorney seeking a new mandate, for what he’s hopping to get the votes of the African American and Hispanic communities. While trying to reveal himself as racially sensitive by not following up with the complaint on the carjacking, he’s pressurized by his wife, Jean, whose anger against the ethnic minorities is in an unstoppable crescendo. This will be most evident when Jean discriminates Daniel (Michael Pena), a Mexican-American locksmith. Daniel and his daughter will have their life crossed with Farhad’s (Shaun Toub) as well. Farhad is an Arab, that even though he’s original from Persia, suffers the racial hate impact after the September, 11.
The movie hits the key of racism and intolerance, but goes even deeper. It plays with the idea of stereotypes, but turns the game around, revealing itself an act of faith to the individuality of each one of us. To define a genre for this movie like a drama, a comedy or a thriller is not only unfair as diminish the pure emotional power that the film provides. It doesn’t pretend to be a cruel portrait of reality and the prediction of a tale – following Magnolia’s concept “It can happen!” – can be seen when someone starts commenting about the snow…
"Crash" doesn’t leave anyone indifferent in its unpredictable and absence of judgments, even though is not exempt of the adjacent moral included in every tale. And a good example is in the speech of Sergeant Ryan to Hansen warning him that he doesn’t have a clue who he is. The comparison with “Magnolia” (1999) is unavoidable but unjust if we think that Paul Thomas Anderson’s movie is highly influenced by Robert Elswit’s cinematography, a model followed by other directors (“Good Night, and Good Luck” (2005), “Syriana” (2005)). Haggis lacks that visual and audio agility, but gives life to a powerful and tender story, full of human relationships in their extremes.
"Crash" makes complete sense in Los Angeles, where human contact almost doesn’t exist and the majority of the Angelinos live inside their cars. This same idea is focused in Michael Mann’s “Collateral” (2004) in the voice of Tom Cruise, when referring that in a city of seven million people no one knows their neighbours. Contradicting that affirmation, “Crash” introduces a dozen of characters played by a brilliant cast where Sandra Bullock (with an interpretation completely different to the ones we are used to see her doing) and Don Cheadle (as Graham Waters), a homicide detective that is the bridge between all the characters and the one that justifies the movie’s title…
Moving at the speed of life, we are bound to collide with each other…
Production Year: 2004 - Drama - Director: Nick Cassavetes - Original Language: English - Classification: 15 years and over, 12 years and over - Starring: Rachel McAdams, Ryan Gosling, Gena Rowlands
i liked this film and would have rated it the same as you, i jus feel it was overrated a little by hollywood because they were all like 'oh my god its so different and amazing look at all these peoples lives' whereas if they just stepped outside the boundary between hollywood to south central or east L.A they could see all this for themselves.
Andy.mack 09.05.2007 21:11
I was really impressed with this film. It had a more raw feel to it than a lot of Hollywood movies and I think that really appealed to me
Dogbert 08.05.2007 21:07
Nice review, but I just can't bring myself to be bothered with this at all
Movie studios, by and large, avoid controversial subjects like race the way you might ... more
avoid a hive of angry bees. So it's remarkable thatCrasheven got made; that it's a rich, intelligent, and moving exploration of the interlocking lives of a dozen Los ...
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Movie studios, by and large, avoid controversial subjects like race the way you might ... more
avoid a hive of angry bees. So it's remarkable thatCrasheven got made; that it's a rich, intelligent, and moving exploration of the interlocking lives of a dozen Los ...
Postage & Packaging: free Super Saver Delivery Availability: Usually dispatched within 24 hours...
You think you know who you are. You have no idea... They all live in Los Angeles. And in ... more
the next 36 hours they will collide. A car crash brings together many desperate residents of Los Angeles often finding themselves defined in life along racial b...
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Advantages: A realistic, raw and truly worthwhile film from director Paul Haggis. Disadvantages: Perhaps a few too many characters are brought in to play here.
RazzaLazza 04.04.2008 (04.04.2008)
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Review of
Crash (DVD)
![Crash [2004] [DVD] [2005]](http://picnicb.ciao.com/uk/78514921.jpg "Crash [2004] [DVD] [2005]")
Apr 26th, 2007
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