Wonderful ride

Rating: 8/10 (1 October 2005)

I missed Crash in the theatre. It came and went too quickly, and I only saw it once it came to DVD. And after I did, I watched it four times in two days. This is movie that exemplifies the best in story telling, movie making and acting.
I admit I didn't have a strong feeling about the movie. I just rented because I hadn't seen it yet. And five minutes in, I was ready to stereotype this as just another cliché liberal sermon on racism. That quickly changed about 6 minutes in. I misjudged the movie, just as the characters in it misjudge each other. This is a masterpiece.
Rarely can a movie make you laugh, cry, feel outraged and embarrassed all at the same time. But this one does.
The overall movie making here is wonderful in every way. But I was blown away by the level of acting here. Every character, even in the smallest bit part, is someone I felt I completely understood. Ryan Phillippe (Officer Hanson), Sandra Bullock (Jean), Don Cheadle (Graham), Shaun Toub (the Iranian store owner) and Terrence Howard (Cameron) each take us through their private journey with honesty and force. Chris "Ludicris" Bridges (Anthony) delivers an excellent performance in his first film, and I expect to see big things from him.
Like its title suggests, this a movie where in modern LA people don't merely intersect, but 'crash' into one another -- sometimes out of serendipity, sometimes tragically. Don Cheadle, in my opinion, is the anchor of the movie. The torture of his character is painful to watch and his simple, understated deliverance is powerful.
The two scenes involving both Matt Dillon (Ryan) and Thandie Newton (Christine) are so intense you are afraid to watch and afraid to look away at the same time.
While so much has been made of the racial implications of this movie, for me, the heart of the movie comes from the interaction between Michael Pena (Daniel) and his daughter Ashlyn Sanchez (Lara, played wonderfully by the young Sanchez), and by Bahar Soomekh (Dorri, whose beautiful eyes fill the scene with emotion and tenderness) and her interaction with her parents. These three characters represent the only true goodness and purity in the movie. All other characters are flawed and 'crashing' tragically into one another, but these three represent what we all want in ourselves.
Director Paul Haggis has created a masterpiece here. Every scene, every line, every lighting shot, is one that can be analyzed and studied for years to come. When create a work that complete, it eclipses by far, in my opinion, his overly rewarded work on "Million Dollar Baby". This is a movie people will remember for decades.