The emperor has no clothes

Rating: 6/10 (29 January 2006)

Decent enough film, but I do not understand all the adoration being heaped upon it. The acting was good. Scenes were well shot. But the screen play? Maybe my expectations were too high going in to it? You would have to have an IQ in the low 70's to miss the message. Subtle it is not. In fact, everything is SO obvious it's a bit cringe inducing. Racism does exist in America, but it is decidedly more subtle than it was in the 50's and 60's.
This thing is so heavy handed and over the top with everything it made it a bit hard for me to watch. It serves up the complex issue of racism with all the finesse of a "Brady Bunch" or "Leave it to Beaver" episode - ham fisted morality is shoved down your throat ... and it made me gag. But I suppose it shouldn't be surprising, that in the age where Michael Moore and FOX News attract all kinds of viewers, people lap this up. In an unintended way, it's a sad commentary on American society that something so obvious and shallow has garnered such accolades.
The script sounds like Haggis took a social studies report from his 10 year old daughter, polished it up and turned it into a movie. We get it. People are bad and good (except for Hispanic locksmiths). Haggis should have spent time watching "Traffic". The drug problem is equally complex, but Soderbergh didn't deal with it by using cardboard cutout characters and hackneyed dialogue.
If after watching this movie you feel you've gleaned some sort of "insight" into racial problems in the US, I suggest you find a shovel, a friend and then proceed to have your friend whack you in the head with that shovel. This movie is a mosaic of caricatures that most anyone could identify by the time they are eight years old.