Head on Crash You Won't Recover Easily From

Rating: 9/10 (15 May 2005)

I knew when I saw the previews for Crash, that it was going to be a movie that I would enjoy, but I didn't know how much. It wasn't even until the day before I saw it in theaters that I realized it was focused primarily on racism, nor did I know that it was being directed by Paul Haggis, the mind behind Million Dollar Baby. So, I went in to this one pretty open to anything that was thrown my way.
I won't spoil anything and I won't give a summary of the movie because enough people have done that before me, I will just say that from the opening to the ending, this movie grabs a hold of your throat and doesn't let go... forcing you to watch and listen as people criticize, call names, attack verbally and physically, people that they deem "different" and by the same token, inferior.
The thing about Crash that I think sticks out the most, is that anyone can place either themselves or someone they know in the shoes of anyone in the movie, from Bullock, to Cheadle, to Ludicrous, and even Ryan Phillipe, the one "good guy" in the movie. You can't help but put yourself in their situations and ask what you yourself would do and, by the same token, what you wouldn't do.
I will close by saying that people who can't handle racial slurs, foul language, and violence, probably shouldn't see this film, but at the same time I encourage everyone to see this film and embrace the politically incorrect reality of a movie like this that only comes along once in a couple years. Thank you Paul Haggis for making an entertaining movie that has a real message behind it, something lacking in most of the movies today.