An Important Film, Even If an Imperfect One

Rating: 8/10 (27 January 2006)

"Crash" has so many good things going for it, it's a shame that it's hampered by a clunky, obvious and over-earnest script. The movie is very Altmanesque in design, featuring a large ensemble cast and a plot that intricately weaves various plot lines together in surprising ways. Unlike Altman's best films, though, "Crash" doesn't have that spontaneous, improvised feel; everything feels too forced and overly scripted. Every scene plays out in the same way, creating an ever so slightly monotonous pace. It's a movie with great intentions that isn't entirely successful at fulfilling them.
But, the writing is my only complaint. From a directing and acting standpoint, "Crash" triumphs. Paul Haggis makes the leap from screenwriter to director ably, and does a wonderful job of keeping his story moving fluidly along, no matter how implausible it might be. And as far as the ensemble goes, this is ones of those movies (also very like an Altman film, come to think of it) that has a cast full of actors who you've never seen act as well as they do here. I wouldn't say I've ever been much impressed by the dramatic range of Ryan Philippe, Matt Dillon, Brendan Fraser or Sandra Bullock, but they certainly impress here. Bullock, despite a tiny role, makes an enormous impression, and her brief monologue during which she describes what it's like to wake up every morning filled with anger without even knowing what she's angry about, was one of the most affecting scenes I've seen in a movie all year.
Other cast members are excellent as well: Terrence Howard as a movie executive "selling out" to white America; Thandie Newton as his frustrated wife, angry at him for not standing up to the very people who have made her privileged life possible; Don Cheadle as a hardened detective who has resigned himself to the unfairness of being judged by the color of your skin.
Whatever its faults, "Crash" deserves high praise for tackling with intelligence and conviction subject matter that other film makers wouldn't touch with a ten-foot pole. How refreshing in our time of political correctness that a film would dare suggest that stereotypes might be based on truths, and that a white director and writer can make a sharp film about the race question without feeling the need to cushion everything through the gauzy haze of liberal white guilt.
Not a perfect movie by any means, but one that I think deserves to be seen.