When a lot of bad things happen to a lot of good people...

Rating: 9/10 (22 May 2005)

I'm not sure how I feel about this movie. About half way through, I couldn't help but think "This is the movie, "Million Dollar Baby" wishes it could be." Rife with intertwining plots and subplots, all populated with fascinating characters all represented by the brightest and best Hollywood has to offer. Why do I compare it to "Baby"? Only because, when I think of Best Picture awards, this is far and away what I'd expect rather than "Rocky" meets a "Lifetime Original Movie." That being said, I'm still not sure what I think about "Crash." Having seen Magnolia, and Amores Perros, I can't help but be reminded of those particular treatments as I watch "Crash." Sure there are plenty of stories involving synchronicity and chance events all involving a certain group of people who don't know each other, so I suppose it doesn't matter that it seems familiar.
All issues explored in "Crash" are relevant and very much deserve to be exploited in any way. I can't wait to read negative user comments to see why I should not like this film, because I think I really do like it a lot.
All the characterizations were nicely done. The casting involves a balance of talent and obvious beauty. None of the female leads were anything less than super hot in my opinion. The male leads similarly involved very good actors who happen to be very handsome. Oh well. Gotta fill those seats. Nobody wants to see average or ugly people on screen for 2 hours... I can excuse that since this is a product of the Hollywood system.
Even so, this film still had a certain gritty edge to it that absolutely worked with the narrative. All the intimate moments were suitably handled and any extraneous elements were absent. The score is very good. The acting and direction is right on. The editing is off the hook. The production design is seamless and awesome.
I believed and I cared and I was moved.