Good, But not as Great as I was Told

Rating: 5/10 (6 February 2006)

I watched this film with the expectation of something more than what I got from it. I might have known better a long time ago when school friends told me to go see junk like "Love Story"; that I'd cry my eyes out. Instead, I watched laughable dialogue and cliché nonsense, and frankly, couldn't wait for the abysmal and snotty Ali MacGraw character to die. "Crash" tries to work on many levels. There are some absolutely powerful performances from talents like Terrence Howard (the TV Producer), whose Black manhood is brought to Level Orange by the attempted hijacking of his SUV by Ludicrous and his accomplice; Thandie Newton is searing as his wife, who questions said manhood after they are stopped by the racist cop, Matt Dillon, as he blatantly molests her, while her husband stands by and does nothing; Michael Pena as the Mexican locksmith, a decent and loving family man; Don Cheadle as the cop, whose younger brother is out there somewhere, running with a bad crowd; Matt Dillon, as a deeply embittered racist cop, alienated from most of his peers, and caring for a sick parent; Ryan Philippe, as his squad partner, trying to ease the racial tensions, but ultimately, worse than Dillon in the long run. There are some intensely memorable scenes: The irony of Matt Dillon's character attempting to rescue Thandie Newton after her car crash. Her initial rejection of him, and the ensuing panic mirror the impending flames, and the danger to both of them.
The fuming anger of Terrence Howard brought to boiling point as he wrestles the gun away from Ludicrous, and pistol whips him with it, almost getting into a fatal confrontation with the police himself.
The desperation of Michael Pena as he confronts the angry Iranian shopkeeper waving a gun at him, and nearly loses his adorable little girl in the process.
As far as other performances, Jennifer Esposito is less than memorable as Cheadle's Latin girlfriend, and Sandra Bullock's performance is only strong because it's a "serious" role for her - as opposed to all the comic lightweight fluff she's done, even in "action" movies. She gets to be the angry, rich, bored wife of DA Brendan Fraser, and her racism peaks after their car is initially stolen by Ludicrous. Her final, telling embrace of her Mexican housekeeper, whom she's usually ordering about and verbally abusing, as her "only friend", is lifted right out of "Driving Miss Daisy", when Daisy (Jessica Tandy) makes the same realization about her driver/companion Hoke (Morgan Freeman). Brendan Fraser is just about passable, and some of the other performances just pass muster, but make no indelible impression.
There were some holes that I found in the story. Why is it that when both the DA's vehicle, and Terrence Howard's vehicles were hijacked - absolutely NO ONE was around to see what was happening? After all, Howard's vehicle was hijacked in broad daylight. In a far-fetched turn, when the Iranian shopkeeper managed to find out somehow where Michael Pena lived, and also tracked him down, ready for vengeance because he blamed Pena for the destruction of his store, he also shot at him (and his child) in broad daylight, on a residential street; you mean to tell me that NONE of the neighbors could see or hear this confrontation going on, and call the cops? And why didn't Pena's character call the cops afterward to report this lunatic? After all, he wanted to kill him! Why does Ryan Philippe play "avenging angel" with Terrence Howard, saving him from trigger-happy police, yet, freaks out when he picks up Ludicrous' friend, and shoots him in yet another clichéd unprovoked situation? Why did that Korean woman say "blake", instead of "brake" - another hackneyed cliché right out of WWII propaganda movies (just substitute an "evil" Japanese character)at the sight of the accident with Jennifer Esposito? How did her husband manage to survive being hit by Ludicrous' car, after the two men dragged him out from under it and dumped him out so roughly onto the pavement, he could have bled to death from internal injuries alone? "Crash" makes some important points about racism, but some of the characters boil down to stereotypes, and we are constantly bombarded with this throughout the film. Yes, it's bad, yes, it exists, yes, there's good and bad in all ethnic stratas, but at times it reads like caricature, and somewhat amateurish - which is not to say there are aren't some rather astute observations mixed in, but they seem to get lost in the mix. While I watched this, I thought of an earlier film that sort of paralleled this - Lawrence Kasdan's "Grand Canyon", filmed back in the '90's, examined racial relations in L.A. in a completely different way. I would suggest renting it, and comparing the two. Although times have changed some, basic human nature and attitudes have not.