Crash (2004)

I tried to catch Crash in its initial run, but it was pretty much impossible. Then word of mouth spread and it hit #52 on IMDB. After seeing the film, I have no idea. It's not a bad movie, it's very well done. It raises a few interesting questions and explores a tough topic, but all in all, it feels a little stale and the tone of the film seems very counterproductive to me.

In the film, almost everyone is angry. There's this pervading intensity in the film that almost never lets up, and naturally, leads to a lot of unnecessary tragedy. But, everyone is just brimming with anger, and it seems a bit too contrived and convenient to the story. To compare it to another film tackling racism in America, Do the Right Thing, which slowly introduces all its characters and lets you get to know them intimately and care for them, whereas in Crash, you don't really like any of the characters, and you only feel bad for them because they're victims of racism. But, they're different films that handle the subject in different ways, I suppose. In fact, it's been 15 years, and a lot can change in that time.

But, that aside, the film is very well done, and certainly makes a good case for racism. Maybe the constant anger makes its point against racism best, I'm not the definitive judge. Haggis has made a very powerful, if flawed statement that will hopefully open a few American minds. We can only hope.