Very good film-making and great acting but with a contrived script.

Rating: 7/10 (17 June 2007)

Crash is a very engaging and original film that I think deserves much of the praise it has received. The acting is consistently great, the style is very effective and there are some very memorable moments. It's able to achieve a kind of raw power at times that puts many other dramatic films to shame. However, it has its flaws too and unfortunately they prevented me from enjoying the movie as much as I might have otherwise.
In a way, the script is one of Crash's strengths. The dialogue is very natural and most of the characters are fleshed out quite well. Some very interesting ideas are explored, most of them related to racism but also some of a more general nature. However, I thought the script didn't hold up quite as well when taken as a whole.
By the third or fourth scene, a pattern has already started to emerge. A few characters of various ethnic backgrounds are thrown into some kind of situation, take every remark they possibly can the wrong way and end up in a heated argument. This formula becomes repetitive and even predictable. Each character's actions end up feeling artificial - they have no sense of humour and they invariably end up taking things the wrong way. Although this makes for the most conflict, it ruins any deeper meaning the movie might have otherwise achieved. The abundance of coincidences does not help fix this problem.
Once the script becomes predictable (almost to the point of being clichéd), it is difficult to care much for the characters. They are more like actors playing a series of (very) dramatic scenes than real people - I was constantly reminded that I was just watching a movie, not real peoples' lives. This destroys the movie's flow.
One other comparatively minor flaw I felt Crash had was the occasionally distracting music. In particular the parts with the singing voice. The music by itself might be good but I thought it was just too obvious and dramatic for the movie. Plus, it literally drew attention to itself and took me out the film whenever it played.
In summary, Crash is a series of well directed scenes with great acting and very good dialogue that cover a series of relevant and interesting issues. For the most part it is not at all pretentious which is often tricky to achieve. Considered as an entire film though, it comes across as very contrived and rather uninvolving by the end due to the script. Still, it's good and highly recommended for anyone and everyone.