good intentions, but not worth the Oscar

Rating: 5/10 (21 November 2006)

My main problem with Crash is that it is supposed to be about the harm that racism does but that the event which drives the plot contradicts this view. Two young black men rob, at gunpoint, a well to do white couple of their van.
Aside from the stereotype of youthful black males from the inner city committing a crime, what is the story telling us by making the victims upper middle class whites? The title is supposed to mean the collision between vastly different worlds, those of privilege and poverty, and various races. But doesn't the wound inflicted on the socially prominent husband and wife by men of color from a disadvantaged background only feed the fears of some whites? One of the gunmen, talking to his partner, days after the theft has happened, points to another young African-American man who is their neighbor. He says that he just goes after the small stuff, like snatching purses. This dialogue just further re-enforces the negative image that black males have to contend with.
Another flaw is the scene with a white policeman, a black woman with whom he has had an encounter, and a car crash. Here, his heroism is a marked exception to the racism he shows in much of the rest of the story. Is there any part of a movie released in 2005 that is more co-incidental and manufactured than that one? Also, Sandra Bullock plays such a whiny, difficult character, who could have any sympathy for her? She eventually sees how bigoted she has been and is persuaded by her Hispanic housekeeper to be nicer. Oh sure, that would happen! Her change and the cop's bravery in the aftermath of the accident put the film on the level of a morality tale that would be shown to highschool students.