Wow. just wow.

Rating: 10/10 (30 December 2005)

How could this one've slipped past theaters with such minimal exposure? A series of interconnected vignettes involving diverse characters and odd circumstances. I should've known to pick this one up when I saw that Don Cheadle stars. That man is a magical actor. Other important players are Terrence Howard as a successful black Hollywood director who is unsure about whether to stand and fight for his dignity after he and his wife are pulled over and abused by Matt Dillon, while Ryan Phillips a conflicted cop, is disgusted at Dillon's abuse of power. And this is the best movie Brendan Fraser has done since Gods and Monsters, but we don't see as much of him. His wife Sandra Bullock (who I was delighted to not see play herself) is spooked into distrusting and despising all minorities after she and Fraser are car-jacked. There are like 12 or 13 other important characters, and each is given a thoughtful and diverse background.
Paul Higgis is a masterful director and writer. The film is engaging, intense and powerful, with central themes of race and socio-economic status (more the former than the latter). I dislike using the terms Hero and Villain because these people are just people. Points of view switch and people grow, as they would in real life. The movie is slightly fanciful but not so much that it looses reality. And the fact that it is so real is what makes you connect with it the most.
No question, this is the best movie of the year and gets an A.