In only 36 hours, everything will change. (Crash (DVD))

Member Name: linzeelou

Product:	Crash (DVD)
Date:	01/08/09 (34 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: For me, all of it.

Disadvantages: Might be a bit too hard hitting for some

Crash is an American/ German drama released in 2005. It was inspired by a real life experience by co writer, producer and director, Paul Haggis. The film is rated 15 due to strong language and moderate violence. Crash has 2 versions and the theatrical version runs for 112 minutes and the director's cut for 115.

Crash only had a budget of $6.5 million but went on to make $53 million worldwide, more than 7 times the budget. As money was so tight during filming, Haggis used his own house for filming as well as his, and many other staff members' cars for certain scenes.

The film skips between the stories of many different characters so I feel that is the only way i can review it. The plot its self would be far too confusing to write and would give a lot away.

Cast/ Characters and Plot

Rick and Jean Cabbot (Brendan Fraser and Sandra Bullock)
Rick is the district attorney of LA who is manipulates the vote in order to not appear as racist however after get their car hijacked by two black males, Jean's thoughts on racism escalate bringing her to not trust many people. In order to make sure this incident doesnt get blown out of proportion, Rick blackmails Detective Waters, who is also black.

Anthony and Peter (Ludacris and Larenz Tate)
Anthony and Peter are the 2 black guys who hijacked the Cabbot's car. Anthony thinks that society is unfair towards black people whereas Peter thinks he's being crazy and his thoughts are unjustified. Peter is also Detective Waters' son.

Officer Tommy Hansen and Officer John Ryan (Ryan Philleppe and Matt Dillon)
On a routine patrol, the 2 officers pull over a car that has been described as stolen. Officer Ryan pulls them over on the basis that he saw the woman in the passenger seat acting strange. Ryan molests the woman because she was giving oral sex to her husband in the car and her husband doesnt defend her, he just tells her to keep her mouth shut. Officer Hansen doesn't agree with the way that the people in the car deserved to be treat so badly and asks to be assigned a different partner because of this.

Cameron and Christine Thayer (Terrence Howard and Thandie Newton)
Cameron and Christine are the couple who get pulled over by Officer's Ryan and Hansen. Cameron is a film director and the next day Christine gets trapped in a car after an accident and gets saved by someone unexpected.

Daniel Ruiz (Michael Peria)
Daniel is the guy that changes the locks for Jean Cabbot the day after their incident and is exposed to her thoughts on racism because she thinks he looks like a gangbanger. Jean couldn't be more wrong about him though as he is very devoted to his family. Daniel also has a run in with Farhad.

Farhad (Shaun Taub)
Although he is an American citizan, Farhad is scared for his own safety so he goes to buy a gun to keep in his shop. He gets into a fight with the shop owner because his English isn't that good so his daughter ends up buying the gun for him. Daniel comes to his shop to fix the locks but is told that the doors need replacing and ends up having a huge argument with Daniel because he thinks he's trying to cheat him out of some money. Later in the film we see an even bigger argument break out between the two.

Some of the other characters include a Korean husband and wife who are selling illegal immegrants who are later found by Anthony. At the start of the film, his wife is involved in a car accident with one of the other characters.

My head hurts just from writing all of that...just imagine what the film is like.

Crash was nominated for 43 awards and won 18 of them. The most controversial award won was the Oscar for Best Picture, beating Brokeback Mountain. It is thought that this occured because of some homophobia of some Academy members. I thought this was quite ironic considering the film is all about racism and prejudice.

My opinion
If you are going to make a film all about racism, then it had better be done right. Crash includes stories about different kinds of racism and doesnt focus on just one ethnic group. I really loved the way we got to see different point of views about racism and why it is thought people act this way. All of the characters in the film are intertwinned in some way (quite like how He's just not that into you was done, although i'm not comparing the two). As part of one characters story moves on, it seems to be linked with another character, even if they just walk past each other, unknowingly, in the street. The best thing about this film is that it is ALL about racism and really throws it in the audience's face, really making us think about how we act and think towards other people.

Crash has such an amazing cast and before I saw it, I though 'Oh no, too many A listers' but it has a good mix with unknown actors. The well known actors don't make the film at all and they aren't used to sell it either. I was glad to see that the big stars didnt outshine the rest of the cast and I was drawn to everyone's involvement in the story. Sandra Bullock was great as Crash is something quite different to the romantic comedies that she is well known for. I love to see an actor move out of their comfort zone and really excel.

Crash is described as a thriller but I dont quite agree. Yes, there are some exciting scenes but it is more intriguing than thrilling. Every part of this film makes you think while watching it, and also for a long time afterwards. We are supposed to live in a time where everyone is equal but that is far from the truth. I loved that the characters were all different kinds of people from police, to movie makers, to shop owners just trying to make a living. It just goes to show that everyone can be racist, no matter what position they hold in life.

Although the film is a little confusing at times, it isn't nearly as hard to follow as I thought it would be. The different aspects of the story as fused together nicely and there are never any wierd gaps between them. This isn't a film you can watch half heartedly and I think you need to have an open mind before watching, be sure to give it your whole attention otherwise you will wonder what's going on all the way through.

Summary: Absolute materpiece