Crash (dir. Paul Haggis)

[rattlerbrat]

Everyone keeps comparing it to Magnolia, yeah. This flick has damn near all of my favorite stars...but I'm STILL mad that I wasted time and money to see Million Dollar Baby. And I agree that by what I've read, this all sounds like Oscar-bait, not to mention faux provacativeness (That CAN'T be a word). Be that as it may, I have my ticket to see it at 1:50 today.

[zacandmax]

rattlerbrat said:

Everyone keeps comparing it to Magnolia, yeah. This flick has damn near all of my favorite stars...but I'm STILL mad that I wasted time and money to see Million Dollar Baby. And I agree that by what I've read, this all sounds like Oscar-bait, not to mention faux provacativeness (That CAN'T be a word). Be that as it may, I have my ticket to see it at 1:50 today.

Well you must report back and let us know how it was, because I want to see it. I love Don Cheadle, Terrence Howard, Lorenz Tate AND Ludicris.

[rattlerbrat]

I loved it! I really did. Hate to say it though, but I think Larenz Tate carried Ludacris. It's not that he did badly - he was competent enough. But not enough to make me say "Wow, I want to see him do something else." Ice Cube would've been much better, in my opinion - or surprisingly enough, DMX. (ducks) But when Luda's waving around a gun jacking cars, it's more like he's playing a bumbling sidekick.

Other than him and Thandie "Halle Lite" Newton, everyone else was rock-solid. But be warned that this isn't a Don movie, or a Sandra movie, or a Ryan movie. Everyone's roles are pretty small. It's very much an ensemble piece.

Best lines?

"Ma, I gotta go. I'm having sex with a white woman."

"Give him a warning.
"What kind of warning?"
"Guh- a HARSH warning!"

"Why did you tell your mother I'm white!?"
"Because she wouldn't be as mad if I told her you're Mexican."

"We need a picture of me pinning a medal on a black guy."

"He's not black."
"He's not?"
"No, he's Iraqi."
"But he looks black!"
"He's dark-skinned. But he's Iraqi. His name's Saddam."

"We're the only black people surrounded by a sea of over-caffeinated white people and a trigger-happy LAPD. Why aren't we scared?"
"Because we have guns?"
"Well...yeah."

[ratssenoj]

Rattler regarding Crash. You can PM me or do the spoiler thing on this response.

Overall do you consider it uplifting or hopeful or is it depressing?

Thanks!

[rattlerbrat]

IMO, it's neither. It just lets you draw your own conclusions about the main players. There were stereotypes being thrown around like mad (such as >>Larenz and Luda waxing poetic about why white people are scared of black people only to carjack a white couple, a Hispanic woman and an Asian woman arguing about which race drives the worst, and so on<<, but the shit was so damned funny that I couldn't be too depressed about it. At the end, when I was walking home, I was just in a deep state of thinking.

[rattlerbrat]

I've actually never seen Magnolia - I just noticed that so many of the reviews I read compared it to that particular movie. I don't even know who made it or what it's about - though I'll probably put it my NetFlix queue just for comparison.

One BIG mistake I think "Crash" made was >>having the movie held in Los Angeles. Hellooooo? Ever been to L.A., Mr. Haggis? It's GINORMOUS! Even if all of these people lived in the poshest part of L.A. - and they didn't - there's just no way that they would've kept "crashing" into each other like they did. I know they needed a place like L.A. or New York to account for all the different races in one setting, but...nope, can't see it happening.<<

I also happened to think that >>Thandie Newton's character Christine was utterly useless. This movie had about three-five people too many anyway, and despire the so-called Oscar buzz, her character was completely dispensable. Actually, I would've made it a bit tighter by having Terrence Howard's character Cameron married to Nona Gaye's character Karen, as opposed to Christine. See, Karen worked for Rick (Brendan Frasier), whose wife Jean (Sandra Bullock) was a bigot, and these women were not fond of one another. On Jean and Rick's end, they're carjacked by black men. On Cameron/Christine's end, they're harrassed by white cops. But all Christine did all movie long was flail about and be hysterical. [And I'm not kidding. All. Movie. Long.] There wasn't a thing about Christine that couldn't have applied to Karen. So I would've knocked her out and paired up Karen with Cameron, which would've given more character development to both Rick and Karen, not to mention their work relationship...and would've probably cut out all of that damned flailing and weeping Thandie did.<<

One thing I really, REALLY liked was the Persian family. (I know the country is Iran, but they called themselves Persian). It's good to see more (south Asian? Somebody school me here!) stories being told, even if >>they owned the stereotypical city Kwik-E-Mart.<<

Oh, and as much as I hate to say it, Don Cheadle is >>much, much hotter with his clothes ON. That is one skinny mofo!<<

Be on the lookout for Keith David and Loretta Devine in their small parts, too!

[giamaria]

When you take each scene by itself it's an excellent movie with great acting, but as a whole it's like some bizarro world where everyone's life is full of tragedy, which makes it not ring true. There were some subplots that could have made an entire movie and been just as compelling.

I didn't think it was anything like Magnolia. I absolutely hated Magnolia and this I enjoyed overall. Plus there was no scene chewing by any of the actors in Crash like Tom Cruise did in Magnolia.

[rattlerbrat]

I agree competely, giamaria. Too "Lackawanna Blues"-ish.

Now that I've had some sleep and thought about it...>>Matt Dillon's character as the 'great white knight' who redeems himself by saving Christine's life? Blech! I know I said Christine was useless, and I meant. But talk about something that could've been thrown out altogether! Cameron could've still gone on his bugged-out joyride (with Luda!) w/o that even happening, especially since it added nothing to the script but an additional 10 minutes!<<

I'm also wondering if >>Rick and Karen were having an affair. The look they shot each other at the end after Karen hears Rick telling his wife that he loved her and that whole elevator/slow music montage just came out of nowhere and was too, too strange. Perhaps Jean had ample reason to dislike Karen after all (well that, and her being black).<<

Which reminds me of Jean. >>What kind of racist just shouts out all that stuff where not one, not two, but THREE minorities can hear her? Bullshit! I'm from Texas - the land of black folk-dragging, Mexican-shooting gay bashers, and r-a-r-e-l-y have I seen that type of BLATANT racism. I could've believed it if Rick and Jean were having that conversation behind closed doors and it just so happened that it was overheard. (This has happened to me when I've been in the homes of my white friends.) But for her to just stand there and shout all that in the middle of the hall? Yeah, right! Aren't most racists just a bit more...subtle when there are minorities around? Jean may have made a snide remark to the lockpick about his tattoos, or a remark to Karen about being out so late when she should be home taking care of her (non-existant) babies, but I just can't see all of THAT going on. Too much like "Make Sandra the evil racist villian", and SCREAMED of Oscar-bait.<<

[GossipGirl]

Can't figure out the spoiler tags...

[JeanBean]

I give Crash a B. The acting was great - Don Cheadle was excellent as always, it was nice to see Sandra Bullock in a decidedly unperky role, I thought Ludacris did a great job, and who is Michael Pena? Never seen him before but now I love him. And why doesn't Jennifer Esposito get more roles?

Despite the talented cast, however, the movie often can't rise above its heavy handed script. The theme - that everyone is racist - is an interesting one, and played out effectively in several of the storylines. But we are bludgeoned with theme so many times it's groan-inducing by the end. Come on. We GET it. (Though having seen Million Dollar Baby, I know subtley is not a priority for Paul Haggis.)

Still, there are some great moments- Matt Dillon and Thandie Newton's scenes together stayed with me for days, and there are a few terrific reversals- notably with Terence Dashton Howard and Ludacris.

Defintely see it. On DVD.