Good first half, then loses it's way

Rating: Null/10 (6 June 2005)

A God's-eye view of LA, which director Haggis sees as a place full of racial conflict and rough racial accommodation. Everyone's quick on the trigger, everyone's quick to claim victim-hood status, as well -- although the truth's a lot more complicated.
The first half is great, with dialog so sparkling I almost thought it was a Tarantino flick, if Tarantino was trying to do a message movie about racial relations. The inter-cutting between the different points of view are well done, everyone gives good performances (the Larenz Tate/Ludicrous car-jackers-cum-comedy-duo being especially outstanding), and the dialog absolutely leaps off the page.
The movie runs into real trouble in the second half, starting with SPOILERS Matt Damon's improbable rescue of Thandie Newton from a burning car (he had previously groped her while her husband watched in a shocking scene). One such improbability I can swallow, but then they start coming fast and furious: Larenz Tate turns out to be Don Cheadle's missing brother, Ryan Phillipe acts in a way completely contradictory to his character as set up, as does Sandra Bullock, etc. All of these forced moments seem to be designed to give the characters an Epiphanic Moment, but that's not how it works. You can't force these things -- epiphanies come naturally out of the flow of the story.
What had previously seemed fresh and exciting, a unique way to talk about race in America, soon becomes ever-more contrived. It's almost as if you can feel the force of the narrative press down on them, to the detriment of the film.
It's too bad, because the first half really is spectacular.