Rather too blatant

Rating: 7/10 (5 August 2005)

Yes this is a good film but at the same time paints a rather basic picture, it contains just about every race that would live in Los Angeles, black, white, Chinese, Hispanic and Arabic(portrayed as Persian in this film) and states basically that they all hate each other. The redemption of the film is that it is saved by a few great scenes involving Matt Dillon an Thandie Newton and the Persian guy and the Hispanic Guy(if you've seen the film you'll know who i mean), these scenes alone drag this film up above ordinary and make it worth seeing.
The one thing that does slightly annoy me with this is that it so obviously owes a lot to magnolia whi9ch is a much better ensemble piece than this is and yet receives a lot less recognition, if you enjoy this then you'll be blown away by the sheer power of magnolia, which by the way Tom Cruise deserved some kind of award for!
To summarise, while this is undoubtedly a good film, it is inferior
to other ensemble pieces (Magnolia,Boogie Nights and Pulp Fiction to name a few) this is still a worthy watch, but having seen Magnolia can only leave a sour taste in your mouth for the under appreciation that film received compared to this.7/10