Mr. Cinema

And they list the running time as 122 minutes, when it is actually 112. I don't think anyone at Lions Gate paid attention to details for this dvd.

Decker

Just bought it (blind buy) and watched it tonight. Very good film. Reminiscent of (but not quite as good as) Short Cuts. I liked the twists the story took, even in the absurd number of coincidences. Here's the way I look at that : it's either load up on coincidence or have an even larger (gulp) cast.

Venom

same here.

Apone

First I had seen the awfully edited trailer and my first gut instinct was not to watch it. Later the hype and enormous waves of positive reviews by critics and people alike made me reconsider and I went to watch it with renewed optimism.

Came out of the theatre with my friend and "Oh boy..." I thought. I should've followed my gut instinct. It wasn't a bad film but definitely an overrated film. It had the potential yet it failed to deliver it. Characters were cliche and over impulsive (expect Don Cheadle's character and acting, he was superb). Plot intermingling with characters quickly became unimpressive and rather predictable. The way the movie tried to present its theme, subject and messages at an international level and appeal - it ultimately failed under the heavy weight. The length was just too short for that and it was over ambitious.

I will say this again "it wasn't a bad film" just that I had failed to appreciate it unlike many people. Overall I felt exactly like watching the trailer.

flashburn

They were Persian you racist bastard!

mikehunt

and the mother was half betazed

joshd2012

This movie was a blind purchase for me, on the recommendation of a friend. We have the same tastes in movies, so what he enjoys I usually enjoy. Once again, my friend was right. This movie was simply amazing.

I am hard pressed to think of another movie that pulled me so emotionally as when:


I read through all four pages, and I think some of the criticisms offset each other. The two big ones are that the movie is heavy-handed and that its too short. I think that these two play off each other to make the movie work. The reason the movie only speeds over the characters, is because its trying to not be heavy-handed. Let me explain:

The movie only shows the certain instances when the racism shows itself in these people. These people aren't racist 24 hours a day; it a circumstancial instance and then its gone. If you showed the characters for a longer amount of time, it would have shown - well, fluff. It would have nothing to do with the story and it would have made them out to look like regular people (which was the point of the ending IMHO). So it feels heavy-handed because it is focusing on small instances where racism shows. If they extended the movie to show more of the people, you wouldn't have a lot more racist circumstances, you would show them shopping at the store and talking to their neighbros or other boring activities.

The point of this movie, IMHO, is not to say 'racism is bad' but is to point out that everyone is a little prejudice and that we have to control it - not ignore it. I think the last scene summed that up.

As for the laughter in the theater, you must remember that laughter is a way people act when they are nervous. It may have been that these people felt nervous and uncomfortable about hearing racist jokes, so they laughed.

Edit: Score 9/10

monkeyboy

Wow, after all the hype, I finally rented this. I thought it was crap, as did the 3 people I watched it with. 15 minutes into the movie we were looking at each other like, "Is this for real? Is this the movie everyone was raging about?"

It just all seemed so spoonfed and heavy handed. Some have said that that was the point, that it was intentionally heavy handed to make a point. I certainly hope so, because if it wasn't intentional, I'd hate it even more. One of the problems I had with Haggis other 'masterpiece' Million Dollar Baby were the scenes with Swank's family. They were such over-the-top white trash, uncaring, rude, unlikeable characters that it went into silliness, it was totally unbelievable. The family walking into the hospital with Disney t-shirts and caps with a contract in-hand? OK Haggis, we get it, the Mom is a bad character, lets move on.... Crash felt like that, except there were 5 or 6 scenarios just as over the top. Haggins feels like a realy immature writer at points, with all the subtlety of a wrecking ball.

It wasn't totally predictable, aside from the fact that you knew everyone was going to come to some sort of realization and gain respect for the people they had badmouthed earlier, but the 'coincidences' that brought everyone together to learn their little morality lessons were ridiculous. A city as big as LA and 2 cops run into the same 2 people in 3 different scenarios, I'm all for suspension of disbelief, but come on, as a filmmaker, you have to try a little harder. This screenplay felt like a young white kid who grew up around other white kids and went to film school in the big city and experienced racism for the first time and decided to write a script about how bad racism is and to educate the world that 'people you hate because of race are actually good people!"

Did anyone actually learn anything from this movie? Did it make anyone who's a racist scratch their chin and say, "Hmmm, maybe that guy at work isn't so bad after all...." Maybe so. Maybe I'm just surrounded by people that have very open minds and know this stuff already.

I don't know, it just all seemed totally stereotypical, silly and obvious against a backdrop of the most melodramatic soundtrack I've heard in recent years, angelic wallowing and all.....

Ok, I'm glad I got that off my chest.

That was a thumbs down from me by the way.... I'd give it 2 out of 5 stars for the cinematography and some of the acting, which was decent for about half the characters, they just had lousy material. And when will people stop giving Brendan Fraser jobs? The guy is a stiff.

monkeyboy

It just seemed very contrived. You knew very early on something was going to happen and when it finally did, I guess it just didn't do much for me. By that point I was soured to the movie in general, I guess I wasn't buying into it

mookyman

I agree. This movie was just total didactic, self-righteous, simplistic, trite nonsense. And the ending is a Magnolia ripoff, period. Magic cloak my ass.

flixtime

It has been a long time since I've been so disappointed.................to see a movie end . I really liked this one. So many great and riveting scenes. It made me both hate and ultimately feel optimism for mankind. I can't say that I found it to be deep or profound or anything like that, but I think it served well as a nice "check yourself" tap on the shoulder for those willing to give ear to the idea. Reading the comments from those who weren't as high on it, I can see where you're coming from but it really worked for me. As someone who has been a little down on American cinema, "Crash" really won me back - it had a soul. Applause to all those who had a hand in bringing this project to fruition.

Red Dog

Finally saw it this weekend and I loved it. The characters, dialogue, message and the way it bounced around from story to story.

taa455

I'll weigh in and say I didn't like it. It was way too heavy-handed. The stereotypes and cliches really turned me off quick. The way it bounced around was distracting, imo. I couldn't get into the movie because it was so chopped up. The "message" was so obvious, to the point I felt it was being shoved down my throat.

Mr. Cinema

After seeing this in the theater, I thought it would only get a screenplay nomination. Now it's looking like it'll have Picture, Director, and possibly a Supporting for Dillon and Howard.

J-DAM

Just saw it. A good movie, with a to-die-for cast. The subject matter could be heavy-handed at times, but most of it rang true. I would prefer a more subtle film as well, but the acting and style of the movie made up for it. Mostly.

(Did anyone recognize Marina Sirtis in this? I saw her in the credits and was shocked I missed her in the film. Shame on me as a Trek fan.)

Mr. Cinema

With 6 Oscar nominations, including Picture, Director, and Screenplay, I'm thinking Lions Gate will re-release the film. I've been reading that they are going to push hard to try to steal the gold and thunder from Brokeback Mountain with a huge ad campaign, etc. I don't think it will work, but clearly, this is the film that has the best chance of spoiling the leader's presumed victory.

adamblast

I missed her too. Who was she? Funny, we've got Deanna Troy in Crash and Dr. Bashir in Syrianna.

Rogue588

Put me in the "what's so great about this movie?" category. I didn't necessarily hate it, and there weren't any actors in there that I didn't like, but it wasn't the awe-inspiring, perception altering, religious experience that most make it out to be. Makes me glad I didn't waste any of my time/money on another lauded "instant classic" Hustle & Flow.

Mr. Cinema

You're missing out on a great performance by Howard in H&F.

Dudikoff

I was gonna say this, but you said it better than I ever could have. The characters and thier motivations are so absurdly one-dimensional, it totally takes me out of the story. Hollywood rewards movies that exploit stereotypes, which is why they love this one. Make a movie about racial tensions, Jewish people, or homosexuals and your gold, Oscar gold!

adamblast

I just saw it as one of those ensemble Altman/Anderson type films, but this time focusing on one specific, direct theme. Since most of these kind of movies eschew having any blatant theme at all, just lives criss-crossing, it made the film seem more heavy-handed in comparison. I didn't hate it--except for the "little girl miracle"--in fact I thought it was well-constructed and very well performed.

thematahara

Exactly the way I felt. Saw this finally last night and if I had seen it in the movie theater I would have walked out. Sooooo melodramatic and over the top. If someone wants to see a good movie about racism, show them Do the Right Thing. This one was just a ham fest.

Doughboy

I finally saw this movie last night. I felt like someone was playing a joke on me. This piece of sh-t isn't really up for all those Oscars, is it? Did Matt Dillon really get a Best Supporting Actor nod for telling off a black lady and fondling Thandie Newton before yanking her out of an overturned vehicle? How did all these talented actors(I'm not including Ludacris, Encino Man or Sandra Bullock in that group for obvious reasons) read this joke of a script and actually think they were signing onto something good?

What exactly is the message of this movie? That racism still exists in our society today and that it's not exclusive to white people? Wow, thanks for enlightening me, Mr. Haggis. You know, I wasn't sure that's what he was getting at since he only beat me over the head with that point about 20 times in the first reel alone.

Someone earlier in this thread mentioned Grand Canyon. While that movie got a little heavy-handed and bogged down by stereotypes at times, it's 1000 times better than Crash at dealing with the same subject matter in the same city.

I felt that Brokeback Mountain was merely a good movie that was being vastly overpraised because of its so-called bravery in depicted a love affair between two men. But you won't find a bigger backer of that film on Oscar night this Sunday than me. Cuz if Crash manages to steal the Best Picture trophy, those awards which are already tainted by excessive studio campaigning and politicking will be rendered totally meaningless.

John-In-VA

You'll find huge differences of opinion about this movie. I'm in your camp. The problem is that in a message movie you only have two hours to hammer home the message and so the choice is obviously to beat us over the head with as many "racial" situations as possible in order to convince us that racism of all kinds does and always will exist.

Most of the situations just felt way too contrived for me.

taa455

I agree. The problem was he used all the most extreme attitudes/situations. Some more subtle examples of racism would have served the purpose better.