Plot Summary
Winner of 3 Academy Awards including Best Picture, Crash takes place in the diverse metropolis of Los Angeles and challenges audiences to confront their prejudices. Lives combust when a Brentwood housewife and her district attorney husband, a Persian shopkeeper, two cops, a pair of carjackers and a Korean couple all converge.
Credits
Actors
- Sandra Bullock
- Don Cheadle
- Matt Dillon
- Jennifer Esposito
- William Fichtner
- Brendan Fraser
- Terrence Howard
- Chris 'Ludacris' Bridges
- Thandie Newton
- Ryan Phillippe
- Larenz Tate
Director
Screenwriters
- Paul Haggis
- Bobby Moresco
Producers
- Paul Haggis
- Don Cheadle
- Mark R. Harris
- Bobby Moresco
- Bob Yari
Movie Reviews from Rotten Tomatoes
TOMATOMETER
76%- Reviews Counted: 196
- Fresh: 148
- Rotten: 48
- Average Rating: 7.1/10
Top Critics' Reviews
Fresh: Enjoy the wonderful performances by a cast very committed to the cause.
Rotten: And so Crash raises the question: If racism is so pervasive in our society, why do we need such an elaborately contrived plot to drive home the message? In other words: How many racists does it take to screw in the point?
Fresh: It's smart, therefore, that Haggis has written such novel, precisely observed, often unpleasant characters as the ones Bullock, Dillon, and Cheadle inhabit.
Fresh: This is the rare American film really about something, and almost all the performances are riveting. It asks tough questions, and lets its audience struggle with the answers.
Customer Reviews
very powerful
regardless of what people might say about this movie (in particular its upset Oscar win over Brokeback Mountain), it is one of the best movies of the past decade. that scene where the locksmith's daughter is shot is one of the most powerful things ive ever seen. ignore this movie if you want: you'll miss out on something amazing.
Racism 101
The reason why I didn't like this film is because it is condescending, dishonest, and it lacks subtlety. The condescending argument has a lot to do with the way the film spells out complex situations. The film is too verbose for its own good in that it explains everything to a point where it is almost didactic. The beginning monologue with Detective Graham sums up the entire movie, therefore not really allowing the audience to come up with their own conclusions. The same goes for Anthony's monoloque and how he verbalizes the atrocities of racism towards blacks. Instead of hinting the audience to evaluate the situations, Haggis is insistent on telling us how to feel and think. Crash is unrealistic because everything about it is so formulaic. Everyone has a complete 180 as if to prove a point. Haggis suspends reality for the sake of proving a point which in my opinion is a very poor decision. In the world of Crash, everything falls in place so perfectly so that Haggis can teach us all lessons about racism. People argue that coincidences happen but everything felt so forced and planned out. Instead of dealing with everyday situations that occur, Haggis decides to use his sock puppets and puts them in the most unlikely of situations just to get a rise out of the audience. So are these "revelations" that the audience feels pertinent to the racism of our own society or to the simulated atrocities in Crash? The fact that Crash isn't an honest depiction of our own society is justification that it doesn't do a good job with handling its subject. As for subtlety, instead of mirroring how an average person would react in a racial situation with the utmost reserve and subtlety, Haggis goes in overdrive and delivers an overdramatic punch. If Crash were indeed a recent depiction of our own society, the suspension of reality wouldn't be the right approach because it isn't truthful. The reason why Haggis employs characters from all different races and backgrounds is because they are supposed to reflect us. But with all the exaggerated reactions and unlikely situations, this social commentary fails to deliver a message in which the audience hadn't already known.
Amazing
I've watched this movie several times and I think it gets better everytime. I love Sandra Bullock but she plays a very different type of woman in this movie than I've ever seen her portray. This movie just puts to light the prejudice that is in the world today that no one wants to talk about. I would recommend that everyone sees it at least once, and maybe it will change your way of thinking.
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- $9.99
- Genre: Drama
- Released: 2005
- © 2004 ApolloProScreen GmbH & Co. Filmproduktion KG. All Rights Reserved.
