Crash (2004/I)

Director:

Paul Haggis

Writers (WGA):

Paul Haggis (story)
Paul Haggis (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

6 May 2005 (USA)

Genre:

Crime | Drama

Tagline:

You think you know who you are. You have no idea.

Plot:

Several stories interweave during two days in Los Angeles involving a collection of inter-related characters...

Plot Keywords:

Racist | Police | Bullet | Director | Brother

Awards:

Won 3 Oscars. Another 41 wins & 66 nominations

Cast

Karina Arroyave	...	Elizabeth
Dato Bakhtadze	...	Lucien
Sandra Bullock	...	Jean Cabot
Don Cheadle	...	Det. Graham Waters
Art Chudabala	...	Ken Ho
Sean Cory Cooper	...	Motorcycle Cop (as Sean Cory)
Tony Danza	...	Fred
Keith David	...	Lt. Dixon
Loretta Devine	...	Shaniqua Johnson
Matt Dillon	...	Officer John Ryan
Jennifer Esposito	...	Ria
Ime Etuk	...	Georgie (as Ime N. Etuk)
Eddie J. Fernandez	...	Officer Gomez (as Eddie Fernandez)
William Fichtner	...	Flanagan
Howard Fong	...	Store Owner

Also Known As:

L.A. Crash (Germany)

MPAA:

Rated R for language, sexual content and some violence.

Runtime:

112 min | 115 min (director's cut)

Country:

USA | Germany

Language:

English | Persian | Spanish | Mandarin | Korean

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Netherlands:12 | New Zealand:R16 | Switzerland:14 (canton of Vaud) | Switzerland:14 (canton of Geneva) | USA:R (certificate #40991) | Sweden:7 | Taiwan:R-12 | Argentina:16 | France:U | Iceland:16 | Brazil:14 | Belgium:KT | Chile:TE | India:A | USA:Unrated (director's cut) | South Korea:15 | Ireland:15 (DVD rating) | Hong Kong:IIB | Malaysia:(Banned) (theatrical) | Malaysia:U (DVD) | Japan:PG-12 | Australia:MA | Canada:13+ (Quebec) | Canada:14A (British Columbia) | Canada:14A (Ontario) | UK:15 | Finland:K-11 | Ireland:15A | Singapore:M18 | Germany:12 | Portugal:M/12 | Norway:15 | Philippines:R-13

Filming Locations:

Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Bob Yari Productions

Trivia:

Lionsgate spent $2 million to promote the film to Academy members in the run-up to the Oscars.

Goofs:

Continuity: When the Persian is holding the locksmith at gun point, the daughter runs out the door, the door swings and stays open. The next shot, the mom runs to the closed door. Next shot the door is back open again.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Graham: It's the sense of touch. In any real city, you walk, you know? You brush past people, people bump into you. In L.A., nobody touches you. We're always behind this metal and glass. I think we miss that touch so much, that we crash into each other, just so we can feel something.

Movie Connections:

Featured in The Slanted Screen (2006)

Soundtrack:

We Wish You a Merry Christmas

High budget Hallmark movie

Is it me or did this "made for video" Hallmark-like production just win the best picture at the Oscars? Oh dear, the state of American nation must be even worse than I thought.

OK, the good points. The acting is decent, though somewhat amateurish. The score is fantastic. The storyline is interesting and the storytelling doesn't leave a boring moment.

The first bad point of the movie is the look and feel of it. It is so Hallmarkish. I am not sure why that is, either due to the poor dialogue, or due to the stereotypical characters - don't believe the publicity, the Hollywood stereotypes are not broken in this movie, they are just reinforced. However, the really BIG bad point is the whole idea of the movie. After all, if you didn't know that race relations were a complicated affair, you must've come from another planet, populated by a single race. Now, let's use the "chain reaction" and the "six degrees of separation" phenomena combined to demonstrate that well-known fact. Sounds intriguing? Of course it does. The problem is that the creators of "Crash" use this technique to state the obvious, and that is really, really disappointing.

Bottom line - there is not much to this film. It has Hallmarkish feel, Hallmarkish look, and it's ideas are as shallow as a puddle, despite the creators' best efforts. Watch it if you are really intrigued, but be ready to be very disappointed. I still can't figure out why it got an Oscar.