I also followed that up with this:
If you've read my last post, you probably realize I feel Crash is undeserving of the critical acclaim it's gotten as of late, and I hope you're wondering why. Why? Because I'm opinionated and I'm going to tell you anyway. For those of you who haven't seen it, Crash consists of several interlocking stories featuring characters of different races interacting in the city of Los Angeles. Most of the interaction between races is done through button-pushing and prejudice accusations, showing that we no longer face a Black/White problem in America, but that our country has become THE great cultural melting pot. However, the characters in Crash still can't accept it; not those who have seen it change slowly over the years nor those who have come here in hopes of a better life. Unfortunately, any central message of the film is lost due to the sprawling story line and complete lack of character development. Some have argued that the character development is one of the movie's strong points but I counter that there is no explanation for most of the characters blatant, over-the-top racism. Sure, we're clued in briefly to some extent on why they feel that way, mostly due to some unsettling event that happened involving another race in years past, however, this is hardly enough to clue us into the characters' inner feelings and we are left to wonder and want more.
Let's look at it this way, with a film featuring over a dozen characters that are integral to the story, this film barely runs over two hours in length and to fill in the holes it resorts to (what else?!) stereotypes. The young good cop stands idly by while his bad-cop partner sexually molests a woman during an assumingly routine DWB (driving while black) stop. Iranian characters are being mistaken for Arabs, and guess what ("what, Joey?") they own a small family-run store. Then there's the two African American students who preach about the philosophy of racial unity versus discrimination yet carry guns and steal cars. The rich white woman is stuck-up and blatantly racist and uses commonplace words like "homies" to describe any minority that she feels could be gang affiliated. By the end of the movie you end up disliking pretty much every character (so much for pulling people together) except for the Mexican-American locksmith played by a very overlooked Michael Pena. Pena was pretty much the only actor that held his own or made a lasting impression in my mind, partly due to the fact that he was the only character I learned to like; other actors giving sub-par performances also plays a large part.
Terrance Howard has had a breakout year, most noticeably for his work in Hustle & Flow. He's also made a name for himself by acting in Ray, Four Brothers and Get Rich or Die Tryin'; not the most impressive resumé but nonetheless he's getting his face out there. In Crash he plays an unconfident director who acts defenseless as bad-cop Matt Dillon feels up his wife. Throughout the rest of the movie, his manhood is stripped again and again as his wife continuously attacks him for being a coward. Sadly, Howard's acting is similar to his character's personality, and I don't mean that as a good thing. He's unconfident, forced, and on few occasions bumbling. Matt Dillon, who's been receiving the most attention out of this cast, is far from memorable. The only reason he leaves a lasting impression at all is because he's probably filled with more unnecessary racism than any other character, yet is kind to his sickly father and saves the life of (you guessed it) the same black woman he molested earlier in the movie. Then there's Sandra Bullock and Brendan Fraser...who suck (no need to waste words). Actually, aside from Pena, Ludacris is the best actor in the movie. Take a second and read that last sentence again, that sums things up well.
I did comment on the story earlier and won't go too far into the screenplay itself but some things just left me feeling sour. For example, we're unsure of the specific job of a character so the screenwriter (Million Dollar Baby writer Paul Haggis) has him shout, "I'm a district attorney!" while slamming his fist into a desk...worse yet, this line was delivered by Brendan Fraser. Yes, this screenwriter did write Million Dollar Baby (which I loved) but he was also the creator of Walker, Texas Ranger (you can decide for yourself whether this is a good or bad thing), and parts of it read just as cliché and over the top as Walker. Also, the whole "put the end of the movie at the beginning" thing has been done to death. Yes, it was used in Walk the Line this year but Walk the Line used it as a way to make a linear story more cyclical where as Crash used it to be gimmicky (think 21 Grams).
All in all, it may seem like I've been overly hard on Crash and that I hate it, but this is far from the truth. I actually did enjoy the movie, awarding it ***, but still feel that the attention it's getting is unjustified. Overall the movie was good and worth a viewing but the lack of actual depth doesn't require repeated ones. Hopefully the 130,000 copies of this movie sent out to Hollywood insiders WILL make them come to a realization: Crash is far from Best Picture Material.
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I'm honestly in complete shock over this. To call it a travesty is putting it lightly.
Still, 11-13 isn't bad, but seriously...Crash?
