Entertaining, but a contrived and unrealistic examination of life and race in LA.

Rating: 8/10 (23 December 2006)

It is a very good movie and worthwhile viewing, but too much shouldn't be made of it. The examination of race is superficial (i.e stereotypical) and too many of the scenes are unrealistic and contrived. Others have made a lot of that every Angeleno depicted in the movie is only motivated by race. While that is a factual assertion, I don't think its a fair argument against the movie. The movie is an examination of racism (even if it is a poor one), with Los Angeles as the backdrop. It is not an examination of life in Los Angeles.
Anyway, my point is if you want to be cerebrally entertained for a couple of hours, rent the movie. But if you want to understand the extent of racism in America, go rent a CNN or PBS documentary of the subject.