Film's plot and cast rise above the difficulty of believably conveying a parabolic message about racism

Rating: 9/10 (7 February 2006)

People are bad; people are good. Most of us are somewhere in the middle, quite capable of taking a step away from the gray, toward light or darkness, depending on the internal and external factors which gradually shape our lives. Want to see several examples? Take a look at this engrossing film, which from the get-go latches onto your senses and even pulls your conscience along with it so that you--well, I did, anyway--are continually having to relate to situations which shed a sobering light and a hideous shadow upon that place in your soul which attempts to separate right from wrong, that corner of your psyche which can't always distinguish good intentions from calloused self-righteousness, can't always make sense of why things happen the way they do to seemingly average everyday people.
Similar to Magnolia, in the sense that several unrelated characters are thrust upon one another's paths, this film's plot highlights the oftentimes easily overlooked notion that we are all connected, that we are all significant parts of a great whole; and it manages to convey this lesson without triteness or blatant, conventional, highbrow lessons on morality--for the most part. Rarely do dramas such as this inject humorous Decalogue into hardship, criminal behavior and downright cynical despondency and alienation. And rarely does a serious film engage its audience by casting several flippant floodlights upon racism and its many disguises: e.g., its pretentious self-righteousness and its need to justify itself in the face of objectivity and honest intentions.
Most of the time the cast steers clear of melodrama and superficiality, sensibly and sensitively providing pathos and relatability to their gradually intersecting roles. Particularly noteworthy are Matt Dillon, Don Cheadle, Terrence Howard, Thandie Newton, and heck, even Sandra Bullock (who doesn't usually exhibit a whole lot of range).
At times, some of the coincidences do seem a bit too contrived, a bit too determined to tell a story about the cold and calloused side of humanity and the chance for redemption which waits for us just around the corner; it is easily forgivable, however, simply because this is a parable come to life, a study on the trappings we have set up for ourselves by refusing to understand and genuinely accept (and embrace) our cultural differences. If you have ever doubted it, you might walk away from this film thinking that we are all racists to some degree. And yet we are equally equipped with reliable consciences; we are somehow quite capable of drawing kindness and tenderness from the very same hearts which harbor those self-serving, destructive impulses. What we choose to do based upon those impulses will change us--for better or worse--whether we acknowledge it or not.