A must-see film that is sometimes hard to watch

Rating: 10/10 (14 May 2005)

This movie is disturbing and dark. You could call it a horror film, but it's based on how our society (American) exists in too many places today.
Blind anger. Anger without thought. What it does. How it affects others. It's scary how people treat each other in this movie. And yet, I can see it all happening in the "real" reality (not what is called "reality" on TV.)
Don Cheadle is soft, hard, caring, and very conflicted. His character is caught up in events he cannot control. Sandra Bullock plays out of character - a woman who is just angry and scared. No one seems to notice enough to care.
Shaun Toub plays an Persian who appears to distrust and hate anyone who is outside of his family. He has blind rages. He doesn't see others as real. They are just in his way.
The other characters are played just as real, and the situations are believable. And they took me to places I didn't want to go.
Every day, I see people wandering around in their heads - that is, they are too busy thinking about what happened yesterday, or the performance review meeting they have with their boss next week, or the fight he or she had with his/her spouse this morning. Too many people living somewhere other than the moment. Not seeing what (or who) is around them. Not letting those people in.
When something happens to break their concentration, many of these people react with anger or disinterest. Polite gestures by others go unnoticed - no response ("thank you") for someone holding a door open, or for someone opening a hole in traffic.
What kind of interruption is necessary for these people to come into the moment and recognize that there are other people around them with needs, desires, dreams, and many of the same issues that you or I have to deal with? To see them as people, and to treat them with respect and courtesy?
As I said, this movie can be hard to watch. Go see it. Then go out and be that "interruption" in people's lives. Bring them into the moment, even if it is just to say "Hello" and and make eye contact. Let them know that you recognize them as a fellow human being, not really any different than you or me. Maybe if enough people do that, we can turn things around on this planet.