Film: Crash (2004)

[Sn2]

2.5 stars
For a directoral debut, you have to give the guy some credit.

Pros:
Surprisingly strong performances. Don Cheadle is a given, but Matt Dillon and Brendan Fraser surprised the hell out of me. Tony Danza, despite his minuscule role, is also noteworthy. Sandra Bullock still sucks.

Cons:
Soundtrack is obvious and cliche, especially near the ending sequences (ohhhh life is hard, etc).
Script rides the Hollywood trend of interwoven storylines, seeping with melodrama.
Tries way too hard to be morally declarative. Completely devoid of the nuances/subtleties which make a truly powerful film.

 

[meesa]

I really liked this movie!! And I agree with cydonorb, Matt Dillon really did do a good job. I was alomst in tears also.. And I think my heart rate went sky high as well. I also REALLY liked the hispanic guy... He did a god job too...and again there was one particular moment where i was almost in tears but sitting on the way edge of my seat!

 

[onetwothreefour]

this WAS a melodrama, for sure, but that's not such a dirty word is it? there are plenty of good melodramas around, and i think this ones plays it very well. i agree with sn2 that the soundtrack was pretty shoddy, but i bloody loved the script.

the last forty-five minutes could have been cut down to about thirty too.

anyway, whilst this film set out with a very clear agenda and never tried to stray too far off that track nor do anything particularly mind-blowing (both cinematically and thematically), it really did achieve its goals with aplomb. i thought the character portrayals were fair, balanced and honest, and refreshingly complex considering the issues at hand.

not to mention the standard of acting (though, in disagreeance with cydonorb, i still fucking hated sandra bullock).

 

[wanderlust]

someone's little brother stole my crash (cronenberg) video for his pre-pubestent porno collection
i had to go take it out of his dresser drawer one day. he should have looked harder for his dad's stash

 

[Sn2]

this WAS a melodrama, for sure, but that's not such a dirty word is it?

I guess I just associate it with manipulation, which is the dirtiest of all words.

 

[LeaderOfThePack]

I rate this movie higher than any I have seen this year, and would be prepared to put it in the same category as Go, Pulp Fiction and American Beauty.

The 'view askew' angle aside, this is just so well made, and avoids stereotypes like the plague.

Sensational stuff.

Note- if you liked this, you should really see The Machinist

 

[DigitalDuality]

Probably the best film i've seen since Hotel Rwanda. I just watched it and loved it. I could probably sit back and nit pick it and debate it..but i dunno, for once debate seems like it would ruin a perfectly good thing.

 

[ChemicalSmiles]

I agree with many others. I havent seen a movie that has impressed me on all different levels. I could believe ludacris performed like he did on a first time film apperance.

 

[DigitalDuality]

this isn't Luda's first time in terms of film experience. He's actually had small roles in alot of movies, Fast and Furious to name one.

 

[wanderlust]

after seeing the cast list i was a bit wary of watching this but was loaned it on high recomendations.
it was worth it. i enjoyed it. i would have liked a bit less of a shallow approach to most of the stereotypical roles but there is only so much you can ask for in an hour and a half movie- it wouldnt be very possible to have such depth and show such a cross section of people.
i found people chuckling at some of the comments made (like the girl cop making fun of the tiny asian lady driver) before realizing that wow, thats the point, to show the inlaid racism that people hold sometimes freely sometimes against their own will, just from nurture.

did anyone notice that the only race that ended up looking bad were the asians? All the other characters had some sort of redeeming, underlying goodness in them, and they were just victims of a tradition of bigotry and racism, but the one chinese character was just an asshole who sold his own people into slavery and his wife was a thin stereotype chinese woman.

the store owners were not held in the best light. yes, they were victimiszed for being arabs even when they were not... but he shot a little girl. the fact that he thinks it was a sign form a proctetor angel whatever doesnt make up for it. still not looking good for him.

 

[Tanuki_23]

Okay, its a great flick, but correct me if Im wrong. Its just a west coast version of Do The Right Think with a Seinfeld twist. Honestly, the way the characters kept interacting so much, it just became a little gimicky. Dont get me wrong, its really well made, but I dont think it was so groundbreaking with the racial tensions and interaction, it just added an LA twist. In New York, everyone walks everywhere for the most part. Its a much more personal city. LA is just so disconnected, so everyone drives everywhere. Other than that though, felt like I had been there 15 years be4, well tehnically 10 years be4, I didnt see Do The Right Thing right away.

 

[goatofthenever]

Far too long, to many overy-blatant points of racism, and too much like a soap opera to be very entertaining.

 

[DarthMom]

yes that's true but its important for people in this country to see this movie & understand its message".

I was so disgusted by what I heard I began to say something but thought better of it, but then blurted out "you 2 aren;t from New York, are you?"

"No, we're not" one of them replied, bewildered.

"Well, thank God for that!" I sighed in relief as my boyfriend & I walked down Second Avenue (we were at the Lowes Kips bey in Manhattan).

I have a feeling that Ebert had a similar viewpoint when he praised this crap. He's been around too long & is too well versed in film to not see this overlong PSA for what it is. This smug high mindedness is exactly what has tuned people off from the Left & is Hollywood Limousine Liberalism at its worst (its no better/worse than NYC Limo Liberalism btw). I have a feeling there are WAY too many people who have the same attitude of the jerk I encountered outside the theatre.

sounds like the jerk there was you. not the guy who simply said he thinks it is an important message, then you rudely interrupt with your arrogance. 8) sorry for throwing in my own arrogance, but couldn't resist.

about the movie...just watched it and loved it, though was a bit bored. But i did enjoy it. and that little girl just stole the movie. I am just weak for the little ones, she was a cutie for sure.

I just don't get how.... *spoiler*




the parents were able to walk into the house and close the door on that man. I mean, I know you are overwhelmed with happiness and relief to find out your daughter is alive but I can't imagine doing anythign but causing massive harm to the asshole that would have done it. i can't imagine controlling myself in a situation like that. and i am a peace lovin hippie.

crazy

 

[drEaMtiMe*@#]

i saw this movie the other day and i'd have to say that i liked it. i wouldn't give it four stars mostly because i think that it was a little too melodramatic (i seriously mean only 'a little' though), but other than that it was pretty damn good.

the reasons why i thought it was 'pretty damn good' is because it tackled the ever present issue of racism in america. and then also because it uses an idea that i love, and that's fussing complete strangers lives together somehow, which then also expands onto the other idea that i like and am in agreement with, that everything in this world is somehow inter-connected.

 

[deeCee]

This is one of my favorite movie's of the year. Although Im the oppisite of dreamtime, I donelike the inter twining type movies, because they mostly have the same script of people "bumping" into eachother. This is different to that as in fact its written more like an IRL movie.
A great cast, which shapes up more to be a cast of long cameo spots. It works well with the current climate of "loosely bases" peoples thinking

 

[cravNbeets]

Okay, its a great flick, but correct me if Im wrong. Its just a west coast version of Do The Right Think with a Seinfeld twist.

definitely comparable films with respects to subject matter but i dont think that has to impugn this film's quality.

i enjoyed 'crash' but i thought there was way too much going on. there were enough small plotlines for half a dozen different films. sure its great to see everything all tied together in the end (not really) but i'd prefer well developed characters and plotlines instead of sketches.

there were some nice performances but surely none of them involved sandra bullock *barf*

 

[faris]

i liked it but didn't. i liked the overall jest of the movie, but emotional movies like that just fuck with my head. i put myself in other people's shoes and i just couldn't get the image of the asian guy trying to off the other guy and almost getting the kid. movies like these i can appreciate but i'll never watch again because i get mental.

 

[DigitalDuality]

^
he was Persian!

(There goes DD with the categories again)

 

[cravNbeets]

still asian but i dont think she meant it that way

 

[cydonorb]

sounds like the jerk there was you. not the guy who simply said he thinks it is an important message, then you rudely interrupt with your arrogance. 8) sorry for throwing in my own arrogance, but couldn't resist.

Hey no offense taken. If you like maudlin, contrived, melodramatic, phoney, manipulative, bourgeoisie PSA's that try to pass themselves off as controversial then it's your's & Dr Phil's right to enjoy them & wallow in your lilly white guilt.