Crash

There is good and bad in all of us. This movie explores this like no other. It will make you think about the nature of bigotry and stereotypes. The characters switch from heavy to hero in a way that is deeply moving and exhilarating. It is TV drama style writing where several different groups of characters and plots interweave (Paul Haggis) but with none of the limits of TV, it reminded me of "Hill Street Blues" which from me is a big compliment. I am a Don Cheadle fan and he captures the role. Sandra Bullock plays against character and pulls it off with ease. The most impressive performance to me was Ryan Phillippe's. Almost every nationality in LA was represented and they all were interesting and realistic. The ensemble cast and various plots blend together and keep your interest. Cast is great, music is haunting, writing is superb. Go see this movie.

It's a shame that in order to present the diversity of racism and prejudice, the writer and director had to conjure up such a contrived set of chained circumstances, scenarios and aggregations. For the most part the presentation flows seamlessly through the lives of LA residents as incidents follow incidents over the course of twenty four hours or so, but it soon dawns on you that it's as manufactured as the cheapest plastic plaything and done so just to elicit what can only be described as a faux reaction to the events - as a result the impact is diluted and devalued. Sadly, it's the constant stream of actual events and newsfeeds, from all over the world but perhaps more shocking in the so called developed world, that remind us how the road to a truly fair, free and open society is still as out of reach to some as it's ever been - on that we should all be able to agree.