Nothing light about this film

Rating: 7/10 (20 June 2005)

First time director Paul Haggis takes on the powerful subject of race relations in his film "Crash", set over the course of 36 hours in Los Angeles. Featuring a large and exceptional ensemble cast, the characters in "Crash" all have something to do with one another, even if the familiarity is slight, and most of them have serious racial prejudice issues. Jean Cabot (Sandra Bullock) is the uptight wife of Los Angeles D.A. Rick Cabot (Brendan Fraser), who become victims of a car jacking. The perpetrators, Anthony (Ludacris) and Peter (Larenz Tate) are habitual criminals who, when they aren't stealing cars for profit, are waxing philosophic on the state of discrimination for African-Americans, though generally it is Anthony who is expounding while Peter negates some of his theories. Sgt. Ryan (Matt Dillon) is on the LAPD and quickly establishes his opinions on race when he pulls over African-American television director Cameron (Terrence Dashon Howard) and his wife Christine (Thandie Newton) and proceeds to feel her up, much to the horror of his partner, Officer Hanson (Ryan Phillippe). Det. Graham Waters (Don Cheadle) and Ria (Jennifer Esposito) are lovers who have to deal with their differences as well as the family baggage carried by Waters. Iranian-immigrant, Farhad (Shaun Toub) has to deal with break-ins at this small store, his sole bread and butter, as well as race-related attacks, while his daughter Dorri (Bahar Soomekh), who is more Americanized, tries to keep him hinged while struggling with the racism herself. Finally, there is Daniel (Michael Pena), a locksmith who looks like a gang member, but is actually the most peaceful and "nice" one of the bunch. He is struggling with keeping his family safe, particularly his young daughter, after having lived in a neighborhood in which a stray bullet ripped through her bedroom.
Obviously, the cast list is huge as is the scope of the story, but the bottom line is that everyone is brought together by a series of events that causes each of them to either have their lives physically changed, or causes them to reexamine themselves. Racial prejudice are the two main words to describe the theme of this film, and no race is left untouched by Haggis. I think that this film toes a very narrow line between heavy-handedness and abject relevancy, but the script is so damn good that it is more the latter than the former. I heard a review of this film by Henry Rollins who said that it was a really good film, but that "he knew all of this already, so he didn't learn anything new". I agree with this to some extent; anyone who is not racially prejudiced could conceivably find the film a little much at times, as I did. However, Haggis' writing is fantastic and thorough. There are few, if any loose ends, and any kind of "redemption" of any of the characters isn't handled in a cheesy manner befitting an old-time radio show or something. ("I know I was wrong, but dagnabbit, I see the light now!") Nothing like that. Everything that happens has been solidly established and is very believable.
The cast is, quite simply, brilliant. There were people whose acting I didn't have a prior opinion of just because of lack of exposure, who made me sit up and take notice, (Ludacris, Howard) there were actors who are always good that continued to showcase their talent, (Cheadle, Fraser) and there were actors who I really don't like at all who surprised me with their range (Bullock, Phillippe). Haggis' direction is stylish and a little grainy, but it is clear that he is more of a writer than a director; this is not a slam on his directorial style, but the film's style was subtle and more befitting of showcasing the script and action. Haggis, the writer of the Oscar-winning film "Million Dollar Baby" is not going to win any honors for being a writer of upbeat films, but his films, while usually pretty heavy and a little depressing are not of the same caliber of pain as say, the work of Todd Solondz. I definitely would recommend this film because I think it is an important societal commentary, I just suggest that the viewer give the film a chance before declaring it to be too heavy or preachy, because I think you may be pleased with the final result. 7/10 --Shelly