Un-believable for various reasons

Rating: 1/10 (27 June 2006)

Following the outcome of the latest Academy Awards with Crash surprising everyone by getting the Oscar for Best Picture, I thought I should perhaps see this film. I watched it with the best intentions and an open mind. I really thought I would like it because I knew it dealt with an interesting subject matter.
Unfortunately, the truth is that, while watching Crash, I really had the impression that I was simply watching a TV program, some kind of "bad cop/good cop" TV show. Nonetheless, I still found Crash to be an OK movie, a "movie with good intentions", but overall, just an ordinary made-for-TV movie. I thought it was too simplistic and, in some ways, childish in its treatment & development to be worthy of any significant praise. The first line uttered by Don Cheadle at the beginning of the film is so unnatural, unrealistic, and moralizing that my reaction was: "What?! Do they think we're stupid?" The problem with this film is that it is "pushing" a moral. It aims to carry a "message" and does so without finesse or subtlety. It is done so that the "not-so-bright" gets the message, i.e. "we're all racists, let's all love and accept one another, ... and, if necessary, let's crash into one another in order to touch one another"(!). I personally do not particularly like "preachy" movies and, Crash IS preachy. This film could really have been entitled "Racism 101", "Racism for Dummies", or even better "Racist Stereotypes - Advanced Level". Mind you, I do not live in LA nor in the US, and I realize that such a film is perhaps necessary.
I really thought that the storyline was "un-believable". This sequence of coincidences is so contrived and artificial that, after just a few minutes, you can clearly see the pattern established, you can predict the "surprises" and, as the film goes on, you then automatically expect the "unexpected". It seems like the makers of this film are simply trying too hard. It considerably reduces the credibility of the film.
It is un-believable that this film won the Oscar for Best Picture. How did that happen?! In any case, the Oscars have hit a new low.
It is un-believable, and sad, that the Academy actually fell for the persistent and aggressive Oscar campaign orchestrated by the producers of Crash. Actually, the simple thought that these awards are earned through of a pushy "Oscar campaign" makes me wince... So much for the credibility of poor old Oscar.
Let's face it, Crash did create quite a "coup" on Oscar night for a movie that had quickly sunk into oblivion last summer. After all, it only ranked 58th in the 2005 year-end compilation of film reviews in the March issue of Premiere Magazine and was not even nominated for Best Picture at the Golden Globes. Despite the fact that Crash addresses the touchy issue of racism in LA, many reviews in reputed publications, including the LA Times, were rather negative mentioning how manipulative and unrealistic it was, and how it "exploited stereotypes". After watching the movie, I personally felt as if I probably needed to be more wary of people of other races. I felt that it only "reinforced" and "validated" existing negative stereotypes. Now, was that the intention of the film? I doubt it, but facile stereotypes are used without any restraint throughout.
In the end, I think that host Jon Stewart summed it up pretty well on Oscar night when, in order to save time, he said "Whoever was NOT in Crash, please raise your hands". He simply reminded us that Crash is ABOUT LA, was shot IN LA, and gave work to A LOT OF PEOPLE FROM LA, and of course, all these people FROM LA voted for themselves, probably also getting the votes of their colleagues and friends in the film industry (everybody would have done the same). But, was Crash really the Best Picture of 2005? I think that the answer is pretty clear and obvious: NO.
After receiving over two dozens of Best Picture Awards around the world, the extraordinary and unforgettable Brokeback Mountain should of course have won the Academy Award for Best Picture which it truly deserved. An upset of this magnitude is without precedent in Oscar history and, it is simply unjustifiable and scandalous. Everybody seemed extremely surprised, even, of course, the Crash winners. The Academy has completely discredited itself. Brokeback Mountain was from the start simply outnumbered in this specific "LA-based" organization which is, as it just proved, very self-centered and preoccupied in glorifying itself. It was clearly demonstrated, once again, that in the Academy, "inside politics" and other dubious factors have more importance over true artistic value.
I personally think that, as Crash's big Oscar rival, Brokeback Mountain might have been too subtle, too true, too profound, simply too good for the Hollywood peanut gallery. The impact of BBM has been absolutely "historical" in scope. Brokeback Mountain will remain a milestone in cinematic history. This film has been talked about all over the world and has attained unprecedented international acclaim - the "Brokeback phenomenon" has significantly crossed borders and has reached numerous foreign countries. Rarely have we seen a film have such an impact on society, in the media, and with the general public, even on those who haven't seen it or did not have the courage to see it. In no way can Crash measure up to any of this.
Crash does have its merits but, by fetching the Best Picture Oscar through a desperate and very costly campaign, it showed that with money, you can make people believe anything. It also proved how irrelevant, unimportant and meaningless the Oscars and the Academy really are.