Good approach, okay implementation

Rating: 6/10 (2 February 2018)

Nearly half way through the film "LA. Crash" misses ideas and new themes to carry itself another hour. In general, I think the idea of making a movie about race relationships and the effect on society is interesting and the movie always knows what it should be. Straightforward with much intensity and good drama and even some "punch-in-the-gut-moments".
What pushes the movie for me is the fact that it willingly takes a straight up evil and bad man, and allows him to be human. Not that many movies have done that or can do that.
The story is non linear and follows many storylines and characters to in the end culminate all these stories. In that regard, it feels pretty similar to "Pulp Fiction" (1994), just not that funny, not that violent, not that unique and not that well-acted and directed. But, comparing a movie with Pulp Fiction is never good for the movie itself.
What ultimately prevents the movie of being more than "solid" is that the storylines are obvious, although often well-intentioned, the ambition is just too much to make it unpredictable or even exciting.
The acting is good but because of the big ensemble and therefore little screen time, no character can really shine that much or put on a memorable performance.
Maybe it is just because I have seen too many Crime/Drama flicks, that this one just didn't fully connect with me and frankly comparing "LA. Crash" to movies like "The Godfather" (1972) or "GoodFellas" (1990) would be a comprehensive stretch. 6/10