Banal!

Rating: 3/10 (22 May 2005)

Good acting and production values cannot overcome the derivative and sophomoric script by Paul Haggis. LA was done much better in Short Cuts and Magnolia (Haggis added a dollop of Grand Canyon for good measure). Altman and Paul Thomas Anderson are directors capable of vision-Haggis just pounds you with what passes for emotion. When the snow started falling in the Hollywood Hills toward the end of the movie-it became obvious that this first time director needed a mentor. The script was beyond predictable with plot lines telegraphed in advance-like an amateur boxer. This pseudo-intellectual look at racism and stereotypes passes for what is serious in American cinema today.