Take this film seriously? I don't think so!

Rating: 1/10 (25 March 2006)

Well, my friends, I finally got up the gumption to see "Crash" this week so I could decide for myself. I really did want to believe that it had best picture quality. And putting it succinctly, it was a revelation. And the revelation was how to make a totally unbelievable set of circumstances such that it leaves the audience no opportunity to interpret anything at all. The film started about 7:50 and by 9 I was practically shouting at the screen, "Are we supposed to be taking this seriously?" GIVE ME A BREAK! Then when the scene where the Iranian man fired the gun at the locksmith, I just completely lost it. I told my partner very forcefully, "I'm leaving." He pleaded for me not to, that it was almost over. I repeated, "I'm leaving," and I marched out of the theater, threw my leftover popcorn and soda into the garbage (where I believe the film should be thrown), sat down in the lobby and cried for five minutes with my face in my hands, I was SO upset. How any thinking person could have selected that piece of garbage for a Best Picture Oscar -- completely unbelievable situations, contrived and manipulative dialog, amateurish camera work not even good enough for an SVU episode, and the feeling that I had been repeatedly bashed over the head with hate by means of a sledgehammer? I don't have time for that kind of anti-artistic expression in the remaining years of my life. I might also point out that of the 70 some odd speaking roles in the film, there was not a single gay character portrayed. Talk about unrealistic for the city of Los Angeles! The only thing that could have improved the film would have been a top-flight director and not the writer. Let me compare "Crash" to the 2003 British film "Love Actually," which also has multiple diverse plot lines coming together at the end. LA accomplished its purpose SO much better than did "Crash," but I will be forever calling "Crash" by the name it truly deserves, "Hate Actually." I might add that this was only the 2nd time in my life that I have actually walked out of a movie because I was so upset. I absolutely refuse to be repeatedly hammered and be told constantly what I'm supposed to be feeling. I will not be manipulated. Be forewarned.