Hollywood preacheth and the sermon is deranged.

Rating: Null/10 (13 February 2007)

This movie was literally crying "gimme some Oscars!". Hence, alternative titles could be "Gimme Some Oscars For Our Blatant Unashamed In-Your-Face Preachy Political Correctness And Overblown Sentimentality", or maybe even better: "2 Days Of Absurd Coincidences In The Valley".
Phillipe, Danza, Bullock, Fraser. Wow! What a cast! Bullock has never been in a good movie so this fact alone spells trouble.
Alone that scene with Dillon "molesting" the black director's wife guaranteed this silly movie an Oscar for Best Picture. By the way, that black couple DID engage in reckless driving because the woman gave him a blow-job while he was driving, so the LEAST Dillon could have done is annoy the slut a with a bit of cop-a-feel (no pun intended). Regardless of race, this should be done to ANY slut who gives a guy fellatio while driving. The fact that Dillon happens to be a racist – as ALL cops seem to be in Hollywood movies – changes nothing.
Talk about a coincidence plot-device of the DECADE, when Dillon saves the same black woman THE NEXT DAY (no, not a month later, THE NEXT DAY). And as if one such plot-device wasn't enough, we get ANOTHER coincidence not much later, when the black director – yes, the woman's husband – has an encounter with the OTHER cop from the night before, Phillipe. Phillipe is the "good white cop". And it is in this scene that we have the dumbest moment in the movie: the director goes berserk when the two car-thief blacks attack him – and then PREACHES to the taller one about being "an embarrassment" to him (i.e. the black race) and LETS HIM GO, but not before HANDING HIM HIS GUN BACK!!!!!!! Those two car-thieves. What ridiculous characterization! The way they suddenly assault Fraser/Bullock is something out of a ZAZ comedy. It's as if this scene got accidentally edited into the wrong movie. The two lack credibility. They philosophize like Travolta and Jackson in "Pulp Fiction" - except that this is supposed to be a "deep" drama, so it comes off all wrong. First the taller one is paranoid about racism, the shorter one making fun of that, and then – inexplicably – they SWITCH PERSONALITIES: the shorter one defends rap music and makes fun of country being racist, while the taller one criticizes hip-hop for being primitive. Ludicrous? Yes: ludicrous. Aside from that, how many young black criminals who look like hip-hop actually CRITICIZE hip-hop?? This is silly and unrealistic. I half-enjoyed what was said about the rap "culture", but it came out of the WRONG CHARACTER's mouth. Or is it supposed to be funny and ironic that Ludicrous is saying it? Ha-ha. Hilarious...
We have plenty of other nonsense/coincidences that just keep piling up. The way the Persian store-keeper shoots/misses the locksmith's daughter was straight out of the "Cheap And Overused Plot-Devices Throughout The Ages" handbook. And then we had the U.S. flag waving in the background as the Persian guy looks helplessly into the distance. It's obvious that the director completed the "Cheap Movie-Critic-Pleasing Symbolism 101" movie course. Oh, and Fraser playing a D.A.: not as absurd as Denise Richards playing a scientist, but thereabouts.
Hollywood simply cannot let it go. They HAVE to keep trying and trying to "solve" racism in America. But how can a bunch of uneducated, uninformed hypocrites tell us anything intelligent on this subject? You want a lesson in racism? Watch an episode of "South Park". Or, if you want some hard, sobering facts, check out Richard Lynn's controversial studies on the subject. The fact that he is despised both by bleeding-heart liberals and the extreme Right should be a recommendation in itself.
The positive sides are that the film isn't boring and I enjoyed the "rap is crap" dialog. Also, there is at least a hint that blacks can be just as bigoted as anyone else, which shows that even Hollywood can occasionally wake up and smell the roses. The soundtrack is good – it was just placed in the wrong movie. It evokes scenes from "The Lord Of The Rings" trilogy, i.e. doesn't fit with L.A. or racism or any of that.
If you enjoyed other crappy Oscar movies, there is no reason you shouldn't enjoy yet more Oscar-winning nonsense. But do keep in mind: 5,000 MORONS vote for them every year.
If you want to read my "biographies" of Hollywood personalities, or my Hollywood Nepotism List, contact me by e-mail.