Movie Review: Crash

A Brentwood housewife and her DA husband. A Persian store owner. Two police detectives who are also lovers. An African-American television director and his wife. A Mexican locksmith. Two car-jackers. A rookie cop. A middle-aged Korean couple...They all live in Los Angeles. And during the next 36 hours, they will all collide...

This movie is probably one of the best pieces on racism and society in a long time. It is very intense but it does not have to resort to excessive violence to make its point (a single shot is really all it takes). This movie is not for the faint of heart so most of the Church will miss its message in the curse words, violence and hint of nudity/sexuality.

The movie covers so many different storylines so it is difficult to sum up so I will leave the summary to the movie itself…just see it. On a casting note I always enjoy a performance by Don Cheadle (Hotel Rwanda) and this film redeemed my opinion of Sandra Bullock (various movies I don’t watch) and Matt Dillon (Something about Mary). Great directing and great storytelling; I loved this movie.

Some points of interest or thoughts to ponder:

Was this an accurate film? Seeing as how almost all my fan base are white and middleclass I suppose that it is an unfair question. Well the fact that all my readers are white might answer the question for me…hum. I think it was pretty fair in its treatment of racial tension. Even the bigots were believable.

Do you agree that society has gotten so segregated (not just black and white but people to people). Are the barriers getting thicker or thinner between people and races? How do we address issues of race as they come up in conversations?

Where was the church in all this mess? A “religious figure” was noticeably absent. I think that this sends a message in and of itself. What is it?

There was a definite lack of answers. The movie beautifully/hauntingly gave us the problem but was there a solution? Is there a solution?

Talk amongst yourselves.