That's why I used the word "something" and not penis. Anything could be inserted and considered rape.

Crash was a very good film, but for some reason, I found it to be very unbelievable for a movie that was supposed to be jam-packed with real-life situations.

Are you trying to tell me that I'm supposed to believe that all the different little stories in the movie are all somehow connected to one another? I don't find that believable. Also, I don't find it believable that the same cop that "fingers you" ends up seeing you again the next day when you're stuck inside a car that's about to explode. I just don't see it.

But, a few problems aside, the movie is very well made. Excellent performances by everyone (including Ludacris, who should be in more movies like this). Even though it does try very hard to make you feel sympathetic towards the characters, it succeeds.

A solid film. B

Crash was hands down the best film of the year to date. What a little gem!

I'd give it an A. I loved the performances by all involved. Like Zing, I was especially impressed with Ludacris, too.

Well Zing, the thing is you have to realize it's symbolic for the deeper meaning it's trying to get at of how this sort of thing comes back at us, and just how much jumping to conclusions based on race hurts us as a society. I don't think it's all meant to be completely realistic, or at least it wanted to convey that message over having every bit in it seem completely believable. It's a movie about coincidences, and they do occur, but since they don't come often for us, when we see a movie composed of them it can stretch our belief. But i think if there's justification like with Crash it doesn't matter much.

CRASH - 10/10 (A+)

What an amazing, moving, heartbreaking and important film! It surpassed all my expectations by featuring a fantastic screenplay with a countless list of truly flawless performances. Easily the best film of the year so far. Everyone must see this one!

Its the best film ive seen this year so far.The best film about racial tension since Do The Right Thing,Matt Dillon gives the best performance ive seen this year and i hope he gets a supporting oscar nod,and i think he will.

Great performances, great film overall. I really liked it.

8.5/A

Crash is often worthy of the superlatives recently laden upon it: It's unflinching, uncompromising, and articulate; the acting is terrific, the writing is crisp, and the themes are universal. Its style alone - the gritty cinematography, fitting music, and overall composed tone - is enough to partially recommend it. Where the film faulters, though, is in its attempts at delving into its own thematic cycle. I recently read the popular book Blink by Malcom Gladwell, a study of interpersonal split second decision-making and, briefly, racial discrimination. What both the film and book do well is analyze that racism, however much we may deny it, exists in all of us. What Blink did well that this film doesn't, however, is treat racism as we see it most prevalently today: a subconscious, often unknowing, act. Haggis' screenplay treats its subject in a parable-like manner, with the most extreme of extremes lashing out at each other. But is this representative of societal behavior today? I think it works in making an attempt at such analyzation, but no, it's not. And, in turn, the film partially ends up ringing of contrivance rather than the subtlety of dogged analyzation. Like I said, though, the film does work, and despite its big-picture missteps, the power of the film, as well as its aformentioned positives, create a striking whole.

A-, I'd say.

Bump!

I've seen this one in NYC during my USA-trip! It was my most anticipated film of the year and the 'horrible' thing is that it surpassed all my expectations - its by far the best film of the year. The really weird thing is that some scenes in this film reminded me of some real scenes that happened to me in real life. When the end credits showed up, I was just sitting there and thought about the message of this film - so amazing, so brilliant. I love films that make me think about it for hours, days and weeks...

10 / 10 or A+

Good powerful drama, but it is in some wyas boring, and I don't find most dramas boring.

Overall: A-

Crash is a phenomenal film that teaches us not only to think twice before judging other but also to think once more before judging ourselves. As baumer said, it is an emotional rollercoaster and it takes you to so many highs and so many lows, you're left with almost a whiplash feeling when leaving the theatre.

The movie is nothing without its strong and precisely written characters. All the actors in this film give their best to make us feel their characters are alive. So many talented actors working in sync with some of the year's best performances is what makes this film work on various different levels.

Ambitious and solid work. for me, easily the best movie of the year. Solid work from all aspects. My only complaint was that it was too short. Although the characters were devloped to an extent from which we can understand the film's meaning and what its conveying, expanding these characters a bit more, each one just a little would have provided us with an epic character study. However, I realize that even trying to get a little more ambitious could ruin the flow of the film. I do look forward to the television adaptation (what it was originally written out to be).

A

Crash displays a couple of the most touching and emotional scenes I've seen in a movie this year, and while not all the characters and relationships worked, I loved the overall feeling of the picture. The film definitely could have benefitted from being longer to flesh out some of the characters a little more. The Sandra Bullock character in particular barely registered with me and I would like to have seen more of the Dillon character in the aftermath of his rescue effort. The style of the film and some of the music gave off a Traffic/Magnolia vibe which I appreciated, but I felt some of the musical interludes were a little heavy-handed and some of the scenes would have been more effective without music.

The most charged sections of the movie deal with the locksmith and the two police officers played by Dillon and Phillippe. My favourite scene in the movie is when Daniel invents that tale about the impenetrable cloak to calm and reassure his daughter. After the break-in at the store I knew what was coming and was dreading the scene. When it finally came I was ready to lose it, but was relieved to see it play out as it did (although it was a little too theatrical I must admit).

The most emotional moment came with the Dillon/Newton crash sequence. My initial feelings of it being an insane coincidence gave way as it played out and the argument turned into a life and death struggle. I honestly thought that was it for the both of them when the flames engulfed the car. Also, this is a scene where I think the music and slo-mo usage is a perfect fit. I see Dillon's character as being redeemed for that moment, but as for whether or not that will profoundly change him is up to the viewer really. His former partner (Phillippe) plays the straight-laced fresh young upstart cop and has a really effective arc that sees him save the life of Terrence Howards' character (he probably gave the best performance in the movie) and then take the life of Cheadle's delinquent brother (Larenz Tate), displaying how the panic and paranoia shatters his moral fibre and causes him to act towards his own self-preservation. In much the same way, Anthony is transformed for the better after witnessing and being humbled by Cameron's surreal interaction with the police and his courage and self-respect.

I'd give Crash an A-.

my words exactly!

this movie is the of the year.

A [5/5]

An all time keeper for me. Wonderfully written & directed; and the acting was incredible.
Cinematography was also fantastic and ive recently been in contact with an actress from the film and the woman who sings "In the Deep" - Bird York. [aka Kathleen York from the West Wing]

I felt it wasn't trying to make a statement about racism. Rather it was stripping our preconceptions of the disease [which is exactly what it is] and showing how even heros and martyrs and sterotypes that we'd automatically assume to be good and pure actually have these prejudices. Its essentially taking the stock film characters, flinging them together and exposing them as human beings.

As much as id like to say that our world has moved along into a new age of racial acceptance; it hasn't - its just that those who are against racism have the freedom of speech and power to make a real impact. Crash reflects whats wrong with our society. And interestingly i feel could dispell one of the biggest racial divides - the idea that only caucassian people are racist and that somehow other races aren't. No one race is the victim or hero here.

Paul Haggis.

The man can write dialog scenes between two people. I mean, two people in a room, he just can strike up the most interesting scenarios and conversations. It worked so well in Million Dollar Baby, a piece more confined in scope. Unfortunately for me Crash is too much. A lot too much. Frankly it's like being drilled in the head with with a jackhammer of "purpose".

Crash tries really hard to get it's message across, which seems to me that the world is a pretty fucked up place and all of us are pretty equally fucked up and that's the thing that unites us. As such, I have great respect for Crash because it's trying to do things that most films these days are not.

I do feel jackhammered tough, and I don't know why. Magnolia is my favorite film of the 1990s. I think this film borrows heavily from it in terms of style (see the snow fall while a sweet "Save Me" type song is playing and everybody's having a moment of reflection) but unlike the former it's not really that mysterious.

Some of the stories work for me, so don't. I particularly enjoyed the adventures of Thandie Newton and her husband and their misadventures (which all seem to involve nice SUVs), and I enjoyed the story of the key guy and his daughter. But Ludacris and the Thai "slaves" was a bit toooooooooooooooooooooo much and Brenden Fraser's whole character I just couldn't really see the point of.

Overall though, I think that Crash is a quanity over quality film. I think he could have turned one or two of these stories into a super compelling drama that went deeper on the same subject, but instead kind of floated along the surface and didn't really let us get to know the characters or feel a lot of empathy towards them.

It's a good directorial debut by Haggis. He definately has an eye. It's overal a nice film, but based on the praise it has gotten here and elsewhere, I expected more.

It is however the 5th film in two weeks that I've randomly watched which has heavy racial overtones (Downfall, Max [second time seeing it], Ali:Fear Eats the Soul and one other I can't remember atm) so maybe I'm a little exhausted of the subject matter. In fact I happen to be watching a 6th movie tonight about racism too (Walk on Water).

Overall, I'm pretty disappointed.

Was the other one Walk on Water?

Which scenes reminded you?

Most overrated movie of the year so far. The more I think about it the less I like it. They could have done it much better. I had the feeling that I've seen a movie like this hundreds of times before. C

So many people who did not like this film because it was too unrealistic really need to find another reason not to find it.
Despite whether or NOT Haggis was aiming for realism, that's not the point of the movie; the message transcends the credibility of the story arcs.

And to dispute them somewhat...

It's not completely unbleivable that a few of these stories are connected... In fact... not that many of them were really connected. The only real big arcs were Matt Dillion/thandie Newton and Ryan Phillipe/Terrence Howard basically. Don Cheadle's case had nothing to do with his brother; it's very believable that hsi brother could have been up for something and a family card was played... it happens all the time; it's called corruption.

Sandra Bullock's story was completely isolated and so was the Persian guy/locksmith guy.

For someone to not like this movie, it's easy to say that it was unbelievable and this and that. So what if Ludacris's character happened to be jacking Howrd's character's car which happened to spur on a whole self-identity and this and that lesson. And if you ask me, out of any of the story arcs, that was the one that was least believable.

IF you want to see the good in this film, you put that aside. Can't you not look at it as being a contrived piece of writing and maybe see it as some bizarre coincidences that happen once in a blue surfaced and pink spotted moon and the movie si just telling the story of that rare coincidence?


This is still, hands down, the best movie of the year STILL.

Oh boy, here we go!


I don't think it does. To say that without thinking about racism and it's implication in *your* life is allowing the film waaaaay too much power. It's one writer's opinion on race relations, it does not make it a universal truth. It should open the floor up for discussion at least.


No, I think many of the people that have not liked this movie have said that it basically plays along the surface and teases the audience with a serious issue.


It is a bit contrived though, compared to pictures which treat the subject of racism more in depth and less superficially.

The set up to the girl being "shot" is so convienient and overdone with faux emotion and bad plotting that it's silly. Is it a suprise that this guy has tattoos and had a normal family life? I guess if it is a surprise to you then the movie would effect you a bit more, but the whole thing just felt so random and played for sobs. Haggis has a lot of interesting and intelligent things to say in the film, but he uses rather silly devices to get his characters into those situations.

I think it's admirable when a film tackles an interesting or devisive issue and trys to play around with it, but that doesn't mean the film gets a free pass, and from me, the more the days fly by, the less I think of Crash.

Yep. Realism aside, as rhetoric of race, its outright kindergarten level. I harbor more hostility to movies that deal with race, do so insufficiently, and then pat themselves on the back for "dealing with race." This can be directors of documentaries, fantasies, surrealists, neo-realists, docu-dramatists..anyone.

The scene where the white director goes up to his black assistant director to complain that an actor is sounding "white," and "too smart." Isn't even about racism, its about two year old illustration points. Really, necessary for two year olds to sit through, but by four, one could do a bit better.

Soap-operatic immunity cape scene aside, even the rest of the movie insults the intelligence levels of its target audience, which, while more mainstream than some other issues on the topic, is still niche.

Raffiki, you saw Junebug right? Now there was definitely a lot of discussion about both race, and religion (an equally aggressive conflict in this country). There was certainly a lot of Jesus loving going on. What about the artist who was sympathetic to African Americans but didn't want the art in the hands of Jews? How complex was the discussion of urban north vs. rural south? That movie could have easily started either poking fun at Bible thumpers, or lambasting unsympathetic northerners. But do you think it did? Did the movie even come across to you "as a movie about stereotypes and hostility"? Probably not. That's probably why it was also more effective as a means to explore problematic social scapes.

I've seen that, Walk on Water which had plenty to do with German/Jewish/Palestinian relations, as well as emerging homosexual culture. I've seen Downfall this year which broke down some barriers in the film world around the rise of the Third Reich without stooping so low as to think we needed to be shown shown a montage of "good" and "bad" images rather than just a space where good and bad are challenging to define, and even more challenging to act upon after arriving at conclusions. Even Constant Gardener at leased touched upon race issues, albeight in almost a similarly simple way. But it did have the foresight to include some contemporary research, and a thoroughly modern landscape instead of one that kind of collapsed about the same time L.A. was burned to the ground.

At least had Haggis been aiming for realism I could have called him unobservant and confused. Now I'd just consider him condescending both to his subject matter and his audiences.

Ive already said that i liked the film so much beacuse it had elements of surrealism to me because of its location whilst it also had elements of realism that have clearly been translated across the atlantic.

I cant believe i still haven't reviewed this movie. But reviews are giving me a headache right now.

To be honest i think that a lot of the problem with people who didn't enjoy Crash is that they went in with this idea that this film is going to preach to them; that this film is one of those superficially condescending-crowd pictures.

A lot of our reasonings for seeing films is our self-projected image and aspirational preferences. Crash isn't the pretentious arthouse marvel that a lot of people were expecting - and I felt it was way more honest than i had bargained for. I see so many dramas and arthouse films these days that are basically loaded with tedium - but carried out in a way that will garner it critical acclaim and viewership from people who place the DVDs of these pretentious films next to their collection of Opera music and Cookbooks. Now im not saying that everyone who likes Opera music and cookbooks is pretentious - but what i am saying is that the aspirational quality of arthouse pictures, and indeed the associations we as a society make of Opera music [that its listened to by the upper class, cultured and intelligent people] motivate us into associating ourselves with things that tell the world of a person we'd like to be. Its not a bad thing but its part of human nature and i doubt that many of us realise we are even doing it. If someone wishes they were more cultured, more artisitic, more sophistocated- they are going to be choosing things that connect them with those qualities, if even subconciously - it happens widely accross culture today - for example the Killers is strictly poseur music that people who want to associate themselves with trendy indiechick youth culture will listen to. All that said there is huge amount of people who genuinely like these films, books, and music styles - but the advent of success for films like "Crash" isn't a huge throb of thinkers & intellects hitting theaters for no apparent reason - but rather its the display that if a film has the qualities or indeed marketing gloss of intellectual, arty and thought provoking pictures that people are going to go and see it because when you discuss little known films; people assume that your all the things that you want them to assume . For similar, see "The Da Vinci Code" and how the book world turned from affection to disdain for the book when it hit mainstream...and the poseurs.

I like thinking out loud.

Interesting post, Michael.

Crash... was.. somewhere between truthful and contrived, and I'm not sure. I still settle with an A for this one....

Finally catched this film. The plot was a little too coincidental and tight for me. I prefer films that try to make you feel like you are witnessing real events, over films that create "perfect little stories" that all connect. The message however, was well done. Some moments in this film were just brilliant. The acting was superb (I really enjoyed Sandra Bullock in this film - she proved she is totally adept at real drama). The cinematography was gorgeous, the editing was probably one of the best works of editing I have ever seen. And the dialogue was top notch. The plot is the only thing that prevented this film from excelling for me. It was simply put "too perfect". Overall though, this film was a wonderful watch, and finally another actually good film to add to my yearly list.

B+

PEACE, Mike.

I don't know about you guys, but the highlight of the film for me was Thandie Newton (and to a lesser extent, Matt Dillon)

Fabulous job on her part.