A Religious Experience

Rating: 10/10 (17 September 2005)

This is one hell of a surprising film. In just under two hours, director Paul Haggis managed to explore the human condition on a deeper level than any pastor I've heard in years. The movie shows that we all have good and evil in us. We all have pettiness and depth. We all have anger and love.
"Crash" analyzes the cynicism we Americans tend to feel for one another on a daily basis while showing that even the cynicism itself is sometimes justified. When Sandra Bullock says, "I'm angry all the time and I don't know why," she encapsulates what has become the modern American experience. We are all shown and told by the media why we should hate or distrust others. O'Reilly, Hannity, etc. make money off of fostering anger and resentment and a lot of it sticks. "Crash" shows us that once we wipe away that first layer of defense, however, we are all capable of warmth and compassion. The scene where Matt Dillon's character (who hates black people) helps the black woman in the burning car is something that would surely happen. I'm sure, for instance, that many black and white Katrina victims were pulled from their homes by "racists," both black and white.
What the film shows is that we're all human and we all know it, regardless of the crap we hurl at each other from the anonymous safety of our cars or in front of our televisions. Somehow, during this film, I was reminded of the way I've always looked at Heaven: To me, it's a place where we value each person and don't have to think of them defensively. There's no anger, no prejudice, no fear. Only love. "Crash" shows us that resentment and suspicion are unique commodities of Earth -- and sometimes necessary commodities at that. Many times in the film, a person's suspicion or resentment of another is justified. But what a glimpse of how life could be without it. I give it an A+