"Crash" - head-on

Rating: 10/10 (10 September 2005)

"Crash," the new film by Paul Haggis would play out even more like a slice-of-life urban drama if it weren't for the realities of the O.J. Simpson case, the Rodney King beating and the subsequent Los Angeles riots of 1992. That all these events took place in Los Angeles in the early 1990s, and that Haggis' film too is set within the City of Angels over the course of 36 hours, it's not without the blinding in-your-face irony of the reality it attempts to convey to the audience that we're looking into ourselves. Haggis has assembled one of the most dynamic casts for this multi-character drama that includes Matt Dillon, Sandra Bullock, Don Cheadle, Brendan Fraser, Terrence Howard, Ludicrous, Larenz Tate, Ryan Phillippe, Jennifer Esposito, and Thandie Newton. In several poignant vignettes, the sensitive race issue is explored in deep, painful, and resentful fashions - no sides taken - and the people in the audience are left to ponder the film's message, as well as examine their own innermost prejudices. If it weren't for the realities depicted in "Crash," we would not have such an in-depth look into the near-complete absence of human compassion and emotion. One of the best films of the year, "Crash" goes head-on into becoming a sure winner.
10/10