A middle of the road attempt

Rating: 5/10 (14 April 2006)

Before I begin my actual review of this film, let me just get an opinion off my chest about the whole "Oscar" thing. I'm probably gonna get flamed at least a little for this, but I think it needs to be said. Ahem.
So what? Crash got the Oscar and surprised all of the fervent Brokeback Mountain fans. Is that the end of the world? Is all life gonna cease on this miserable planets just 'cause it turns out that the Oscar's are *GASP* political? The only people who this should affect in a major way are the people who were actually involved in the making of BM. If you worked on it, then hey, you've got a good reason to complain. Otherwise, I have some advice for everyone else: don't attach your egos to a film. It will not end well for you.
Anyway, about Crash.
I didn't really care for this film. Nope. Almost all of the characters were, in some way, unsympathetic. They're not really fleshed out, which didn't inspire me to care for them in any way. They were just cardboard cutouts of people that were manipulated through each scene. Yeah. Don't care about 'em. The scenes of pathos, like with the racist cop's father, seemed tacked on simply as a way to try and flesh everyone out, like the "Pat The Dog" scenes in other movies (you know, when the grizzled hero pats a dog, or tousles the cute kid's hair, to show he's not a total b*st*rd).
The message was a problem for me too. Normally, if a movie can subtly unveil a moral platitude it wants to present, I won't mind. However, if the director prefers to take his message and try to beat me to death with it, I'm going to take my business elsewhere.
In conclusion, Crash may be enjoyable to some people, but it just didn't float my boat. I much more preferred Good Night, and Good Luck. Crash was just sort of... eh. And I stand by that. It is definitely an "eh" type of movie. Now shut up about the Oscars and go watch something else,