too many characters leave them feeling thin

Rating: 6/10 (20 January 2016)

It's a day and a half in Los Angeles. Police detectives Ria (Jennifer Esposito) and Waters (Don Cheadle) get into a car crash. Waters walks over to examine a dead body in a crime scene. Yesterday, Persian shop owner Farhad and his daughter Dorri buy a gun. Anthony (Ludacris) and Peter (Larenz Tate) talk about racism. Jean (Sandra Bullock) and husband DA Rick Cabot (Brendan Fraser) get carjacked by them. Jean complains about locksmith Daniel Ruiz (Michael Peña). Officer Tom Hansen (Ryan Phillippe) is concerned about his partner John Ryan (Matt Dillon) after he stops TV director Cameron Thayer (Terrence Howard) and his wife Christine (Thandie Newton).
Paul Haggis weaves together a bunch of stories about the isolated nature of L.A. and the moments when they crash into each other. It tackles issues of race and perceptions. This has some great individual scenes. The problem is that Haggis has included so many characters that the heavy subject matter feel very superficial. For example, Sandra Bullock is playing a harsher character but the movie doesn't dig into her background. Haggis may have the best intention but the characters are thin while their stories are incredibly deep.