Synopsis:
People are born with good hearts, but
they grow up and learn prejudices. "Crash" is a movie that brings out bigotry
and racial stereotypes. The movie is set in Los Angeles, a city with a cultural
mix of every nationality. An LAPD cop is trying to get medical help for his
father, but he is having problems with a black HMO clerk who won't give his
father permission to see another doctor. A socialite and District Attorney are
carjacked at gunpoint by two black teenagers. A locksmith is robbed of his
dignity by a Persian store-owner. Many of the characters switch from being
bad-person-to-hero in ways that may surprise you.
Brian's Rating:
A : I cannot believe I had never seen this movie before now. It is
something I recommend for anybody to see. I went into watching this movie
having heard almost nothing about it other than a recommendation from somebody I
know. I did not know it was a movie about racism. As the movie started and
this became apparent, I initially groaned internally and thought, "oh no,
another social commentary agenda".
I was pleasantly surprised as the movie played out. It was simply excellent.
One of the things that caused me to groan is that movies tend to oversimplify
complex social issues. They are rarely simple, and this movie does an excellent
job of portraying this.
This is what impressed me the most about this movie. There are 3 or 4
interwoven story perspectives from different characters. All of them have an
element of racism, but none of it is straight forward. The complexities of
each individual are masterfully transferred to the screen. As a viewer I was
captivated by the complex driving factors for each character. One minute a guy
is a scumbag, the next I empathize.
Something like prejudice is rarely black and white. Its easy to forget that.
However, this movie breaks that cookie cutter barrier, and paints plenty of
grays. Motivations are complicated and people are complex. This is reality,
and this was captured perfectly.
I loved watching this movie. I feel cheated that I waited this long to see it.
It was powerful, and easily the best film I have seen on the subject matter.
The
Freak's Rating: A : Annually I create an Oscar list, making sure that I
see every film nominated for every major award at the Academy Awards. This
allows me to make sure that a movie like Crash doesn't get overlooked. I'm
curious how it happened that Brian missed it.
Crash is a near perfect motion
picture. The only thing keeping it from an A+ is editing. I found it
to be a tad drawn out in parts. That said, it is a wonderful film.
"It is the sense of touch that we
don't have. The sense of touch that I think we want so badly we crash into
each other just to feel it again." - Don Cheadle
I love that quote and think about it
every now and again. Crash touches on racial issues and stereotypes
strongly and honestly. Racism is a very tough issue to deal with and Crash
helps to bring some of that hatred to the foreground where hopefully some can
heal from the film's messages of peace. A film that has the capacity to
change lives is a solid A.
Sebastian's Rating: A : I won't say much because brian and scott have
already said it :)
comment here
to add your review!
