Sunday, December 04, 2005

So, Crash which is what I meant to say.

It succeeds on three levels, I think.

One, it succeeds as a study of racism. Sometimes it's heavy-handed, unfortunately; examples include the gun shop owner at the start of the film and Sandra Bullock's racist statements about a character whom my friends and I lovingly nicknamed "Key Guy." The latter statements, though somewhat justified by events in the film, still seem unneccessary as both part of the film and as part of the character. It wasn't like "oh, that's uncomfortable to watch," more of "oh, that's awkwardly shoved in." However, I don't want you to get the impression that the movie failed in any way because of these scenes. They just stuck out. The rest of the film is a compelling and real portrtait of modern-day racism in America.

Secondly, it succeeds at showing consequences of our actions and how they set off chain reactions in other people's lives. Every single event in this movie is derived organically from character and plot shown previous to its happening. There is no god in the machine here, only people interacting with one another and connecting to one another in unexpected, sometimes beautiful, sometimes heartbreaking ways. Nothing sticks out as a moment which doesn't fit; all of it makes sense in a stunning, real fashion, which is the sign of some seriously intelligent, strong writing.

It's also a sign of a good real-life drama, which is the third way in which this movie totally works. It's just a damn compelling film, no two ways about it. Nothing about it is uninteresting, and nothing about it is bland; it's beautifully shot, masterfully scored, well-acted, and splendidly written. It's ambitious in its goals, and it succeeds by not only meeting those goals, but tying them all up into something entertaining and watchable.

There's a few movies this year which definitely deserve Oscar nods, including Jim Jarmusch's Broken Flowers and the near-flawless The 40-Year-Old Virgin (yeah, it's a comedy, blah blah blah - that doesn't take away from the fact that it's not only comedically perfect, but also strong, witty fiction. Great movies can make you laugh, too - see Woody Allen films starting at about Annie Hall and running for a decade for further proof). Crash is among the even more elite few that deserve some wins.



P.S. Don Cheadle's character is compelling, but Ludacris' is my favourite. He's a nice guy down deep. He just, you know, doesn't have a very friendly job.

posted by John @ 4:46 PM.