witness for the prosecution

Rating: 1/10 (15 October 2005)

i rarely pan anything but i just have to say that if one truly wants to study the dumbing-down of America, look no further than this piece of tripe. "crash" pretends to be some searing indictment of race in this country and just fails horribly at it. to begin with, it is a none too subtle rip-off of "magnolia", "traffic", and several other better-made films and it doesn't even steal from them all that well. there are at least four too many characters here, none of which are developed enough for you to care deeply about any of them, including the better-known players. shoddy b-list acting from b-list actors here, let's be honest. don cheadle probably should have known better, but i'm sure he was well compensated for his work. but perhaps the worst thing about this train wreck of a film is that the overwrought and all too convenient plot simply goes nowhere and does nothing. the entire point of using this type of storytellling is to take the magic realism that you have created in order to make some grand statement about your chosen subject and it fails to do even that. what's the point here? that racism is alive and well? that there is a class system? that America is essentially unjust? ummm....no duh? most people figure that out somewhere around the seventh grade. it's called capitalism. i mean, what is going on here? but perhaps the most depressing thing about "crash" is how a film like this can now be hailed as visionary in today's society. FINGERS will be pointed! EARNEST DIALOGUES will be opened! GREAT DEBATES will rage! i mean, wtf? have we become so blinded and desensitized and beaten over the head with the constant idiocy in this country (particularly in our arts and letters) that a film like "crash" is now considered high art? wake up people. it's nothing more than pop psychology. it's dramedy. it's dr. phil. it's tight easy answers dressed up in sugary hallmark sentiment. most of all, it's crap. i know it and deep down so do you. what happened to artistic conscience? to those of you that should know better but are still falling all over yourself about this picture (and you know who you are), i would just like to ask you what happened to standing by the courage of your convictions or even having any kind of conviction at all about ANYTHING? i mean, #55 ALL-TIME????????? are you kidding me with this? "crash" is the very worst kind of film making, simply because it's pretending to be something it's not. "crash" telegraphed its intentions right from the get go. underneath all of the gloss and artifice and putting on of airs, "crash" is actually much closer to a film like "training day", another movie that could have been said so much more than it did. but at least "training day" wasn't screwing with its audience, selling them something other than what they paid for. to be fair, "crash" is pretty to look at, but not much more. it's a gauzy pig wrapped in velvet and gussied up with all the bells and whistles that you would expect, but it's a pig nonetheless. it's "urban realism" for the Saturday night date set. i could have just stayed home and watched music videos, so shallow and surface-y do i find the artistic statement presented here. and before you call foul, please know that i am of a minority background and that i do indeed live in a major urban center. i hate feeling that i have to provide a DISCLAIMER when stating my opinion on a film, but it feels like this is EXACTLY the case, so openly and irresponsibly does "crash" play the race card. how ironic. and rarely does a movie provoke such a visceral response from me either and usually when it does, it's because it's GOOD and i just haven't realized it yet. i can't tell you just how much that's not the case here. sorry.