Intertwined LA Stories

Rating: 9/10 (1 March 2015)

The film opens with a car crash where we know at least one body has been found before jumping back to the previous day. We are then introduced to the large cast of characters whose intertwining but apparently unconnected lives we will observe. They represent a cross section of the Los Angeles population; a black detective, a rich white couple, a successful black couple, an Iranian shopkeeper, a Hispanic locksmith, a racist white cop and his offended partner, a pair of black car thieves and a 'Chinaman' they run over. Normally it wouldn't be necessary to say what race characters are but in this film race, stereotypes and our assumptions about characters are key to the story.
Few of the characters are as good or as bad as they seem; situations driving apparently good people to dangerous or even terrible things while apparently bad people do good or incredibly brave things whether they are finding a form of redemption is for the viewer to decide; perhaps they have, perhaps they just did one good thing. This ambiguity makes the various characters feel quite real. The way we move from one character to another reminded me of Robert Altman's 'Short Cuts'; we never stay too long with any one part of the story before moving on to somebody else. The large cast includes several well-known actors, including Sandra Bullock, Don Cheadle, Matt Dillon and Thandie Newton but also many who were; all put in fine performances. I liked how the film played with our preconceptions; setting up a character one way then having them do something unexpected. The various stories were gripping with moments of tension, moments of humour, some shocks and an ending that was happier than I'd expected. Overall I found this to be a gripping slice of LA life; just don't expect everything to be resolved by the time the credits roll.