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List Price: $14.98 | | Label: Lions Gate Films
Salesrank: 11183
Released: September 6, 2005 |
| Our Price: $6.65 |
| Used Price: $1.72 |
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MPAA Rating: Unrated
Media: DVD |
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Editorial Review:
They all live in Los Angeles. And in the next 36 hours, they will collide.
Description of Crash (Full Screen Edition):
Movie studios, by and large, avoid controversial subjects like race the way you might avoid a hive of angry bees. So it's remarkable that Crash even got made; that it's a rich, intelligent, and moving exploration of the interlocking lives of a dozen Los Angeles residents--black, white, latino, Asian, and Persian--is downright amazing. A politically nervous district attorney (Brendan Fraser) and his high-strung wife (Sandra Bullock, biting into a welcome change of pace from Miss Congeniality) get car-jacked by an oddly sociological pair of young black men (Larenz Tate and Chris "Ludacris" Bridges); a rich black T.V. director (Terrence Howard) and his wife (Thandie Newton) get pulled over by a white racist cop (Matt Dillon) and his reluctant partner (Ryan Phillipe); a detective (Don Cheadle) and his Latina partner and lover (Jennifer Esposito) investigate a white cop who shot a black cop--these are only three of the interlocking stories that reach up and down class lines. Writer/director Paul Haggis (who wrote the screenplay for Million Dollar Baby) spins every character in unpredictable directions, refusing to let anyone sink into a stereotype. The cast--ranging from the famous names above to lesser-known but just as capable actors like Michael Pena (Buffalo Soldiers) and Loretta Devine (Woman Thou Art Loosed)--meets the strong script head-on, delivering galvanizing performances in short vignettes, brief glimpses that build with gut-wrenching force. This sort of multi-character mosaic is hard to pull off; Crash rivals such classics as Nashville and Short Cuts. A knockout. --Bret Fetzer
Stills from Crash (click for larger image)
Crash (Full Screen Edition) Reviews:
Crash is Indie? Give me a break. 
2009-11-10 - I just noticed a sale on Amazon.com: "Up to 40% off Indie titles." Most of the movies measure up the Indie classification - or at least as far as I understand the term. Crash appears as a blatant outlier to the group. This movie had one of the largest mainstream promotions and currently has one of the largest bandwagon followings of recent memory. It fakes Indie because stomaching the truth that this movie was driven by corporations looking to monopolize on stimulating your "brain stem" emotions just doesn't settle well. If Crash is Indie, then what what has Indie become? And how long before there's a new grassroots movement away from this new "Pop Indie" that's developed?
Apart from it's portrayal as Indie, I still take up issue with the movie. I agree with another poster who quoted an intelligent critic as claiming that the film treats racism as an overt occurence instead of the covert issue that it really is. Some argue that in order to address the covert issue, you need to portray it in an overt manner. That's fine with me, but just make sure the audience is aware that you're taking that artistic liberty. I've heard too many people citing Crash as evidence of how bad racism is in the Los Angeles area.
Crash Landing
2009-10-30 - Having introduced myself to Haggis's work via, 'The Valley of Elah', I was encouraged to visit his back catalogue. With a couple of misgivings about ,'Valley' as per my review, I wasn't quite expecting such a clunker as,'Crash', which never rises abouve its worthy ideological aspirations. Structurally akin to Altman's, 'Shortcuts', or even further back to Bunuel's,'Phantom of Liberty' and Bresson's,'Pickpocket', the major fault lines are with the immaturity of the script which seems aimed at middle level high school. Just aligning this film with those master works reveals the slightness of Haggis's enterprise, pitched at the entertainment nodes rather than enlightenemnt. The entire film never engages our sympathy, and is content to pump along on over-demonstrative cliches.
Uncle Nobody Gives it a High 5(stars) 
2009-10-23 - Crash remains one of the most unforgetable movies ever.Did it deserve the Oscar? Indeed!! How many movies made you immediately think"everyone should see this"? Although heavy with ironies and coincidence it delivers big time. The second half of this movie is cinematic brilliance and relentless in its pacing- scene after scene (with a few exceptions)will bring closure to a somewhat meandering first half.Quite often,Crash reminds us just how powerfull cinema can be and a high level of effect as well. Some scenes have a staggering effectiveness, due to the acting which is at times breathtaking.Having no scene longer than ten minutes with a cast of over a dozen carrying the film is amazing and interesting to see.Put this one in a time capsule- this movie is a template for film students to aspire to and talk about.MUCH LOVE TO AUDY,ARIEL,NICK and LAUREN!!!(where are my tickets to the gun show???)LLLT
Provocative psychological drama
2009-09-26 - Before seeing 2005's "Crash" I had, of course, heard the usual criticisms -- it's too contrived, unrealistic, depressing, heavy-handed, preachy, too much cussing, blah, blah, blah. Well, I've just seen it for the third time and I think it's a great film. Yes, there's a lot of raw emotion and hard-to-watch scenes, but there's undeniable glimpses of love, hope, redemption and forgivenes as well.
THE STORY: Peoples of differing ethnicities and social-economic levels 'crash' into eachother in Los Angeles over a two-day period. These people include:
- A white cop who's angry over the downside of affirmitive action and abuses his authority (Matt Dillon).
- His young white partner who objects to the abuse and actively tries to counteract it (Ryan Phillipe).
- A black tv director who feels emasculated over the racism he experiences and ultimately blows up (Terrence Howard).
- His light-skinned wife who doesn't know when to shutteth up (Thandie Newton).
- An hispanic locksmith (Michael Peña) and his young daughter with an 'invisible bullet-proof cloak.'
- A Persian shopkeeper who needs a scapegoat after his store is horribly vandalized, not to mention his daughter and wife.
- Two black car thieves (Ludacris and Larenz Tate), the latter the younger brother of a detective, Graham (Don Cheadle).
- Graham's beautiful partner and bedmate, Ria (Jennifer Esposito), and her mother, a maid to...
- The District Attorney (Brendan Fraser) and his wife (Sandra Bullock).
- An Asian man who gets hospitalized and his frantic wife racing to see whether he's alive or dead.
"Crash" is reminiscent of another L.A. drama, the 1991 masterpiece "Grand Canyon," but has enough nuances to stand on its own. For one thing, "Crash" is (even) more serious and dark.
As you can see above, this is a very involved story with numerous interwoven storylines; it ain't no mindless popcorn 'blockbuster.' A casual viewing won't cut it. In fact, a single viewing won't likely cut it either. It's not that type of picture. Most of the negative criticisms about the film are by people who didn't watch closely and then lambaste the film with criticisms that aren't even legitimate. Want some examples?
For one thing, the film is about so much more than racism; it also addresses stereotypes -- those who fit them and those who escape them, hypocrites, the capacity for good and bad in every human soul, second chances, passive correction and shame, self-sacrifice, redemption, forgiveness, abuse of power, the last straw, manhood & emasulation, giving someone a break, true friendship, misunderstandings, favortism and more.
SPOILER ALERT! -- Don't read the following paragraphs unless you've seen the film.
Furthermore, not every character is racist as some critics insist. Brendan Fraser's character never shows any racism and the only reason his wife (Bullock) blows up with racially-charged statements concerning the locksmith is because she just got robbed and shoved to the pavement at gunpoint by two young black guys. How would you or I react after such an experience? Also, Matt Dillon's cop partner never displays racism in the truest sense; why else would he radically come to the defense of the director who has a fit or pick up a young black male hitchhiking? (What happens later is a misunderstanding not real racism). What about the detectives Graham and Ria and Ria's housemaid mother? (Yes, Graham makes one derogatory statement about hispanics, but that's it; he's hardly racist). These are all main characters.
Then there's the criticism that all the protagonists are "essentially one-dimensional racial stereotypes." This is completely untrue. Graham and Ria (black and hispanic) are successful detectives; Cameron is a successful black tv director; and the hispanic locksmith is a family-oriented working man, not a criminal or gangbanger. Yes, there are some people who fit the stereotypes, like the two young black male thieves and the racist/abusive white cop, but one of the thieves becomes shamed for his lifestyle & hypocrisy and the racist cop is willing to risk his life for a woman of color, thus redeeming himself (for the guilt he felt over abusing his power the night before), besides his white partner is anything but a white racist who abuses his authority. I could go on but this is enough.
Another reviewer criticizes the film with this mulitple-choice question: You are involved in a car accident on a busy street. The other driver is Asian. Do you:
a) Wait for the police to arrive and see if the other driver is okay.
b) Exchange insurance information with the other driver.
c) Scream and yell, "damn chinks don't know how to drive!"
If you picked C, you'd love Crash.
This car-crash senario DOES take place in the story, but he's leaving out some important details -- A woman & man are rear-ended by an Asian lady. Why don't they call the cops? Because they ARE cops and there are other cops on the scene. Why does the lady detective talk back to the Asian woman? Because the Asian woman is having a fit and throwing racial slurs (she's hispanic). This is WHY she talks back to the Asian woman, not to mention she's a cop and therefore in a position of authority. Why does the Asian woman have a fit anyway? Because she's rushing to the hospital to see if her husband's alive or not. So, you see, the witty little multiple-choice question doesn't actually fit the reality of the film.
END SPOILER
Another criticism is that the racism in the story is not subtle like it is in real life. Well, haven't you ever seen anyone blow up like in the movie? I have. In a city as big as L.A. how many such blow ups happen over any 48-hour period? "Crash" isn't saying that everyone in LA is racist or that such blow ups happen everywhere constantly, rather it focuses on a handful of such blow ups over a two-day period. Writer/director Paul Haggis has lived in the city for three decades, I bet every instance in the story is based on a real-life account, loosely or not. Which isn't to say everthing in the story is believable, but -- hey -- it's a freakin' movie.
As for it being contrived, aren't all films contrived to some extent? They all have to tell an understandable story in a mere two hours, after all. Regardless, coincidences are a fact of life; besides, the film (again) focuses on a handful of storylines that DO interconnect. By doing this "Crash" is intentionally ignoring all those that don't fit.
Another totally irrelevant criticism is that "Crash" unjustly beat out another film for Best Picture in 2005. In fact, a large portion of the negative reviews here at Amazon are obviously by bitter gays upset because their favored picture didn't win. This is all irrelevant. "Crash" has zero connection to that homosexual-themed movie. What matters is whether "Crash" is a good film or not. And I'm here to tell you that, if you're in the mood for a well-made psychological drama with numerous insights to the human condition, then don't miss out on "Crash."
Re-defining and expanding on the meaning of "heavy-handed"
2009-09-25 - This didn't look all that good to me when it came out; it looked like a just-as-obvious only more-black updating of Lawrence Kasdan's GRAND CANYON and that seemed unlikely to be something that would win me over. I was surprised when it won Best Picture; also rather surprised that one of my favorite critics loved it, and I'd have to say shocked now that I've actually seen it. I knew I was going to be in trouble pretty quickly, the glossy, burnished artificial lighting and restless camera just didn't seem to belong to the rather intimate story that it seemed (at first) that Haggis was trying to tell.
Ah, but what's that? Intimate? LA is the world, Haggis wants us to believe, and the world is racist, hateful and violent. All of it. Without exception. This is what was so noxious about the film to me -- every single character is a collection of hatred, fear, suspicion and suspended violence; and every character (of course) has a moment of redemption, and obvious and simplistic choice of whether to do "evil" or "good." The cardboard, one-dimensional treatment of the "people" here is made even worse by the extraordinary and ridiculous set of coincidences that bring them all together, completely Dickensian in scope but completely underserved and unbelievable, because these are not people but types and cut-outs. Asking me to accept all of this in a two-hour film that never fleshes anyone out beyond skin tone and class, and asking me to accept that this is the world we live in....too much, Mr. Haggis. If I believed that CRASH was the world, I'd have killed myself long ago. It's hard to remember a more cynical film with a worse view of humanity, which wouldn't alone make the film worthless -- it's the simpleminded, heavy-handed psychology behind it all that does that. And I saw that as someone who considers himself pretty cynical, and pretty negative in his prognosis for humanity. This is unquestionably the worst Best Picture winner I've seen (and I've seen all but 10 or so of them at this point), and one of the worst films of the 2000s so far. I liked a couple of the actors (Terrence Howard especially) and I have to say I was kept interested -- if only to predict nearly every scene and then to choke up laughing when I was right.
It's a sad, sad commentary on Hollywood that this film and DRIVING MISS DAISY are the two most visible, award-winning dramas about race in the past couple of decades, and that two of our most gifted directors (the virtually-unknown Charles Burnett, and Spike Lee), who both happen to be black and have never won Oscars, still have to struggle to get financing on anything that's not white-oriented enough.
