A well acted reflection on the human condition

Rating: 9/10 (27 October 2006)

Taken superficially, this film would seem to be all about blatant racism and if you only look at it in that context you will miss the point. To quote a rather hackneyed phrase; 'Too err is human' and the one thing that this cast portray better than anything else is in this picture is that we all err, whether intentionally or not. We judge people and situations by any number of preconceived ideas and the only thing that reflects is the narrowness of our own vision. Our actions are more often motivated by self-interest than selflessness and yet we condemn others for behaving in exactly the same way. Many of the roles in this film can be seen as stereotypes, but it is not because of how they behave, it is because that is how they are seen through the eyes of the other characters in the film. These are not real people, and it would be easier if we did live in a world that's this tightly linked and clear cut, but despite life's complexities, our views on other people and especially those with any identifiable difference; whether age, race, creed or colour are more often than not just as simplistic, stereotyped and pathetically naive. This film's only failure from my perspective is that too many of the leads do find a redemption of sorts. If only life were really that simple.