Different lives intertwine in this brilliantly thought-provoking film.

Rating: 8/10 (11 October 2014)

We are shown many different characters in LA and never seem to focus on one, but rather the whole film focuses on the diverse cast. What first seems to be a film about racial prejudice and discrimination further develops into how people can change, and that sometimes the people who overtly show discrimination might not be as dangerous as those who keep silent.
There is a great cast in this who did an incredible job. But because there are so many main characters, we don't really get so in depth into their characters, that I honestly don't even know their character's names. However, we see enough of them to get a basic snapshot of their character and this is enough to gain our sympathy when something happens to them.
There was this tone that was consistent throughout this film which was established right from the start. This tone had me expecting a really surprising ending or something of that sort and though I did get surprised, I think I was more confused. And though I got what this film was about after thinking about it for awhile, it just feels like it fell short of what it had me expecting.
Or maybe it's because that there are a few characters who I don't know what happens to. The characters are split into two groups, those who redeem themselves and those who cross over and does something we wouldn't suspect of them. We are shown a few examples of both but there are some characters who don't really fit into either categories so it has me wondering what their role in the film was. I understand that this film thrives on the different lives intertwining but I feel that a few less characters would have made it much better.
The song "In the Deep" by Bird York (Kathleen York), that is played near the end of the film is a kind of epilogue which fits the story perfectly. This film was really well written, acted and edited.
My final thought is that I don't know if this film is just so brilliant that my brain can't register or whether I'm so confused as to what I just watched. So I'll take it as a confusingly brilliant film. OK wait, I've got the word for this now. It's a heavy drama. There we go. I think I've got a headache from thinking about this too much.
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