Crash (2004)

I waited to see Crash on DVD because I was underwhelmed by the reviews I read comparing it to the other out of sequence dramas like Magnolia, Traffic, 25th Hour, and so on - none of which I found all that compelling upon actually watching them compared to the hype.

Apparently these social message stories have an appeal for certain folks and Crash certainly tries to get you on its side with the racial stereotyping that pits cops against citizens and then begins to turn the screws as it reveals that everybody has their flaws after all. Ho hum.

The story is keynoted by Don Cheadle's character saying "... in LA we never touch anybody. We sit behind glass and steel and crash into each other just so we can feel something." yada yada.

From this beginning, which opens on a traffic accident scene and then cuts to a scene subtitled Yesterday, we are led through a sequence of events that somehow connects all the various little scenes and characters together, usually with some unfortunate results for some of the characters.  There is a large ensemble cast with a few familiar players like Don Cheadle, Sandra Bullock, Matt Dillon, Brendan Fraser, and Ryan Philippe - who I didn't recognize in the nerdy rookie cop role at first. Most of these I liked in various other roles but here the writing was a little too convenient to be believed. Some individual scenes came off well but others were lame.  This sort of storyline may be more palatable to women viewers than men because I remember I kept thinking where are the soap commercials? 

The biggest drawback is none of the conversations or encounters seem real. It seems like a bunch of scripted stuff meant to illustrate a point. That point is racism and writer director Paul Haggis hammers on that theme to death making us question everybody's motives. Everybody seems to have a pretty severe anger problem, too. When it all finally concludes everybody turns out different than their original scene. The seemingly racist guys are heroic and the "normal" people are revealed to be racists. Sure.

I found the movie overall pretty good but soap operatic and trite at times and not nearly as good as the theater viewers said. Lots of the language is foul and the women are mostly bit--y and unpleasant.

As a city guy, I have seen most of the types illustrated in Crash and maybe that is why I am less than impressed by the story that seems to be fairly typical. If I were from a rich exclusive neighborhood I might think I was seeing something "like it really is" and getting clued in to some profound truths. Nope. Sure there are lots of people with attitudes out there in the city and some actually get their comeuppance but a lot don't. It's frustrating that real life doesn't come out evenly, but it doesn't. You got to play the cards you're dealt. And none of the conversations are remotely believable unless you live in the twilight zone or maybe that's how people really are in Lost Angeles??  Can't prove by me, but I doubt it.

The DVD is from Lionsgate, who picked up the movie from the Toronto Film Festival as an independent entrant. The movie did win 3 Academy Awards, including Best Picture so my lack of belief in the veracity of the Academy still holds true.  The other two Oscars were best Original Screenplay and Best Editing. No awards for acting.  The DVD contains two disks - the first with a Director's Cut version of the 2.35:1 format copy of the 115 minute color movie with a full length commentary from the director, Don Cheadle, and a few others, and a bunch of extra features on the 2nd disk.

It's worth buying it for a time through if you are a big fan of Don Cheadle but the rest of you can get by with a rental.

Recommended:
Yes

Viewing Format: DVD
Video Occasion: Better than Watching TV