Good, but not groundbreaking

Rating: 6/10 (31 October 2005)

"Crash" is a good film but over-hyped; in terms of both craft and subject matter, it is neither ground-breaking nor earth-shattering.
The movie's structure---following an ensemble of characters who cross paths via intersecting story lines---is interesting but not new. Director Robert Altman has done it for years, as have more recent flicks ranging from "Pulp Fiction" to "Magnolia" (both of which are better films than "Crash").
The flick's subject matter---exploring race relations and conflicts, in LA in this case---is important, but here the script falls short . The first 45 minutes is almost completely dominated by unsympathetic characters behaving in unsympathetic ways, a problem that isn't solved by having most of them flip into highly sympathetic behavior late in the story. If anything, this sort of "cheat" appears as a feeble attempt to create a "nice Hollywood ending," which isn't what you'd expect (or want) from this sort of movie.
It is not the sort of movie I'd watch several times. Maybe twice. Disappointing. So I give it a 6.