The "City of Angels" is shown in a sad and painful light through 36 hours dominated by racism and prejudice.

Rating: 10/10 (21 July 2010)

Sadness, hatred and bitterness can be found behind every corner in the so-called "city of angels", racism dominates everyone's life in one way or the other and people yell and scream at each other simply because of their color and their language. Words are misinterpreted or misunderstood, which leads to conflicts and arguments, sometimes even fatal. This sad, but wonderful movie documents 36 hours in Los Angeles, with more or less average people finding themselves in unusual situations, and often colliding with each other in the most surprising ways. Whether you are a detective, a cop, a district attorney, a movie producer, a locksmith or a car thief, nobody is safe from being pulled into the Maelstrom of hatred and prejudice, which is ever present in L.A. The film is dramatically and intelligently intertwined, which will bring the audience to tears but at the same time is a piece of hope and optimism at the end.
In Los Angeles, racism dominates the interaction between people and over the time of 36 hours many of them encounter it in closer ways than ever before. Detective Graham Waters is working on a case where a racist white cop shot a corrupt black one, and after finding $300,000 in cash in the black cop's car he is almost sure that the dead man was trafficking drugs. But the city, that wants to save face, wants to present the community with a fallen black hero instead of a drug dealer and persuades Waters to drop the case, in exchange for the clearance of his brother's criminal record. Jack Ryan is a racist cop, who after pulling over a couple that performed fellatio, sexually molests the wife under the eyes of her husband and his partner Tom Hanson. The movie director Cameron Thayer and his wife get in a huge fight after being pulled over by Ryan and Thayer's wife accuses him of being worried more about his reputation than her. Rick Cabot, the district attorney, and his wife Jean are attacked by two black thieves and their car is stolen. After that incident, Jean is in constant fear of people that are not of her race, and Rick tries to spin the incident to his advantage, no matter the cost. Daniel Ruiz, a Hispanic locksmith, gives his daughter a necklace, that is supposed to protect her from any danger, even bullets. After a communication problem with the Persian owner of a store, the store is robbed and trashed, and the insurance refuses to pay because of negligence. The owner is desperate and goes after Ruiz and causes a catastrophe to happen.
This movie is a painful mosaic that spreads out over the city and involves numerous people of different ethnicity, languages and social classes. Just one small event, can cause a dangerous chain reaction that will end in casualties. Paul Haggis, in one of the best screenplays of the decade so far, ties up the plot strings convincingly and created a film with a powerful message. There are no good people in Los Angeles, no heroes and no saints, but some have their moments and most of them have their eyes opened by the end of this film. There is no true beginning or end, as it is just a glimpse into an average day for these people, one of many that is filled with sorrow and pain, but occasional happiness. The viewers are pulled in from the very first word on and won't be able to let go until the end credits start rolling. Some of the dialogs are even funny to a certain extent, because they are full of insults and swear words, but their content is so serious, that the smile just won't come in most cases. The language is extremely dirty and includes dozens of "f-words" that is because the atmosphere in L.A. was supposed to be as authentic as possible, and it certainly is.
Don Cheadle is very calm and moving as Graham Waters, a detective, who tries everything to get accepted by his mother, and in the end she is always more fond of his criminal younger brother than him. Matt Dillon just blew me away, beginning as the racist asshole, who sexually molests a young woman, to the hero, who risks his one life to pull someone from a burning car. Sandra Bullock as the racist wife of a district attorney has not a lot of screen time, but she is so perfectly unsympathetic that one has to congratulate her for a job well done. Michael Pena, playing the only truly good guy in this film, is extraordinary and some of his scenes will move anyone to tears, especially the one that is shown on the poster, of him letting out a tortured scream as he is holding his young daughter. Ryan Philippe proves that he can be considered one of the best young actors in Hollywood right now, giving a great dramatic performance as the young, naive police officer, who goes through an unfortunate transformation over the 36 hours the film takes place in. Terence Howard's character also changes considerably, from an ambitious, well-worded man, to the aggressive, foul-mouthed one at the end. Thandie Newton as the victim of Ryan's sexual molesting gives a sad and moving performance and her scenes with Dillon are among the best in the movie.
Coincidences shape the lives of the multi-ethnical people in L.A., often for the worse as this movie shows. In any case, Paul Haggis crafted a masterpiece of story-telling that goes deep into the people that have to survive the daily life in a city, where racism is constantly present are where trust is a word nobody has ever heard of. Nobody can prevent the crashes and coincidences of life, but we can make the best of them,instead of blaming each other because of a different skin color or language.