Crash

Lions Gate Films presents

Starring: Sandra Bullock, Don Cheadle, Matt Dillon, Jennifer Esposito, Brendan Fraser, Thandie Newton, Ryan Phillippe

Directed by: Paul Haggis

Rating:***

Plot: Challenging and thought-provoking this film has multiple characters who run into each other. The movie has an unflinching look at racial tolerance dealing with a variety of races. With one hell of a stacked cast I believe the film misses its mark where it could have had a deep meaning it decided to be more of a white people are ignorant message which I think has become decently boring in film these days. Still a movie many should see not only for the message but the performances.

Acting: Like I said before the acting performances are out of the ball park. Don Cheadle proves that he really did deserve that Oscar which sadly did not go to him. He has a subtle way of acting sneaking emotions in and making you care for him no matter what type of character he is. Sandra Bullock I believe is one of the best actresses around and one of the most underrated. If this film was to get any award it would be for best supporting actress by Bullock. Her screen time in minimal but memorable where she forces you to take her performance in and remember her. Matt Dillon plays the typical racist cop but adds a little spice a little real anger to the performance. Unlike stereotypical white cop characters he seems realistic like his anger is real which makes the character more believable, not one you have to role your eyes at. Also Brendan Fraser comes out in full form I thought Mummy Returns ended he career for sure but he did an outstanding job here in this film. Plus Ryan Philippe who I will always remember from Antitrust where he hid in a giant Lego box, and Thandie Newton or aka the chick from MI:2, I thought both these actors couldn't act if their lives depended on it. They proved me dead wrong with stellar performances. The supporting cast was also outstanding.

Directing/Writing: I had no idea what this movie was or about when I sat down. While watching I almost found myself rolling my eyes because I thought this was going to be the typical white racist movie, but it turned it around looking at racism on a bigger level. That misunderstanding other cultures and races is not only bad but it leads towards a destructive path if you mean it to or not. The problem here is though the message is flipped around and blurred and the audience can find itself either confused or pissed off by what they believe the message is. Less characters and more of a clean script would have made this a one, two punch hit. Sadly things get stirred around too much and you find yourself not caring or wondering if there are multiple messages to the images you are being shown. I found the sloppy and lead the movie to have less of an impact on me then it should have.

Overall: A very interesting film with a handful of amazing performances, sadly though the screenplay in my opinion crashes leaving you no where.