"Crash" is a 2004 American drama film, co-written, co-produced, and directed by Paul Haggis. It premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival, and was released internationally in 2005. The film is about racial and social tensions in Los Angeles. A self-described "passion piece" for director Paul Haggis, "Crash" was inspired by a real life incident in which his Porsche was carjacked outside a video store on Wilshire Boulevard in 1991. It won three Oscars for Best Picture, Best Original Screenplay and Best Film Editing of 2005 at the 78th Academy Awards. The main focal plot of this film involves a police detective with a drugged out mother and a thieving younger brother, two car thieves who are constantly theorizing on society and race, the white district attorney and his irritated and pampered wife, a racist white veteran cop who disgusts his more idealistic younger partner, a film director hits with his wife who is ashamed and humiliated by two policemen, a locksmith and his young daughter who is afraid of bullets. In 2005, "Crash" controversially won the Best Picture Oscar over the critically-favored 'Brokeback Mountain', making it the fifth film in history to win the Academy Award for Best Picture without even being nominated for the Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture. The director's cut of the film was released in a 2-disc special edition DVD on April 4, 2006, with more bonus content than the one-disc set. The director's cut is 3 minutes longer than the theatrical cut. The scene where Daniel is talking with his daughter under her bed is extended and a new scene is added with Officer Hanson in the police station locker room. "Crash" remains a very solid piece of cinema, embraced by many film fanatics.Read full review
Features Actors:Don Cheadle, Sandra Bullock, Matt Dillon, Jennifer Esposito, Brendan Fraser, Ludacris, Thandie Newton, Ryan Phillippe, Michael Pena, Larenz Tate Running Time:115 Min. Rating:R Genre:Drama Graham (Don Cheadle) is a detective stretched thin between fighting with his partner and girlfriend, Ria (Jennifer Esposito), carrying for his drug-addicted mother, worrying over his missing brother, and investigating a shooting between cops that may be racially motivated. Jean (Sandra Bullock) is a rich white woman who is carjacked by two young black men. While she copes with her anger and prejudice, her district attorney husband, Rick (Brendan Fraser), is trying to spin the story in such a way that he won't lose either "the black vote or the law and order vote." Anthony (Chris "Ludacris" Bridges) and Peter (Larenz Tate), the carjackers who are constantly debating race politics, accidentally run over a "Chinaman" (actually a Korean man) on their way to sell the merchandise and are later shocked to find themselves confronted by an unexpected ethical dilemma. Officer Ryan (Matt Dillon) is a racist cop with a sick father and a lot of rationalizations for his prejudice. When he pulls over an upper-class black couple, Cameron (Terrence Howard) and Christine (Thandie Newton) with his partner Officer Hanson (Ryan Phillipe), he crosses a line and intentionally humiliates them both. After this traumatic experience, Cameron gets a new perspective on his status at work as a television director and Officer Hanson commits himself to "doing the right thing" and reporting his partner, not realizing where that path will take him. Dorri (Bahar Soomekh) is a young Persian woman trying to convince her shopkeeper father (Shaun Taub) not to buy a gun for his store. He does anyway and careens toward tragedy when he sets out to take revenge on a locksmith, Daniel (Michael Peña), trying to keep his young daughter safe. This is a good movie, you have to pay attention since they go from one persons life to another.Would recommend to rent or buy.Hope this helps you decide.Thanks for reading! :)Read full review
BESIDES THE WONDERFUL MUSIC BY MARK ISHAM....THAT WAS JUST 'PERFECT' FOR THIS MOVIE............THIS MOVIE IS 'REALITY' AT IT'S BEST......... AND FROM THE FIRST SCENE IT OPENS WITH....EVERYTHING AFTER JUST 'EVOLVES' AROUND EVERYTHING ELSE...SO YOU HAVE TO REALLY TAKE THE WHOLE THING IN..AND WATCH..TO GET THE WHOLE STORY....- IT IS NOT ONE OF THESE 'GET UP FOR A MOMENT AND COME BACK TO IT." ...YOU MUST JUST WATCH AND LISTEN TO 'EVERYTHING GOING ON'...AND SEE HOW THE PLOT IS SO WELL WRITTEN..... I HAVE WATCHED IT OVER AND OVER AGAIN...AND LOVE IT..AND WILL CONTINUE TO DO SO... I THINK EVERYONE SHOULD SEE THIS MOVIE... IT IS A 'TASTE' OF THE REALITY IN THIS WORLD, THAT A LOT OF US WOULD "NOT LIKE TO THINK ABOUT'...... DON'T WATCH IT WHEN IT'S ON TV...THEY 'CUT OUT' A LOT OF PARTS....GET THE DVD...AND SEE THE TRAILERS...AND THE WONDERFUL MUSIC AT THE END....AWESOME!!! A MUST-SEE!!........WATCH IT...IT IS A GREAT, GREAT OSCAR-WINNING MOVIE!!!Read full review
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In high school most people in the United States have been taught that America is no longer a melting pot where different ethnicities are assimilated into one homogenous mix, but a tossed salad where people keep their differences from their ethnic backgrounds. The ethnic background includes aspects such as race, linguistics, religion, and culture. This knowledge frequently drifts into some unused part of the brain, as it slowly moves into oblivion. Nonetheless, the ethnic differences between people continue to exist in the United States, as people work and handle their personal matters on a daily basis. Crash tells a story of people from all parts of the world, as African-Americans, Asians, Caucasians, Hispanics, and Middle Easterners move through life and occasionally bump into each other by accident, a crash if you will. Through daily interaction people accidentally connect with each other where stereotypes and generalizations are made based on assumptions from the brief incidents, previous events, and hearsay. This is often the result of simplified deduction, which could be colored by emotion and bias. The skewed perception of people with different ethnicity could also stem from appearance, gender, and the socioeconomic status of the observer and the observed. Paul Haggis directs several interesting characters from all walks of life such as police officers, criminals, locksmiths, storeowners, and TV directors. Some are caring while others neglect those around them. They have one thing in common with each other - no one is alike. Instead of playing the card of racism in a black and white manner, Haggis cleverly intertwines all of the characters through a truly genuine approach. The origin of intolerance is being dissected through the camera that depicts the characters' behavior while also displaying the source of the behavior. Through the characters Haggis displays different emotions such as fear, anger, hatred, and love. These different emotions are expressed in different manners, as interactions between the characters accidentally appear. Some times the observed feelings are subtle, as when Jean (Sandra Bullock) in fear grabs Rick's (Brendan Fraser) arm while Anthony (Ludacris) and Peter (Larenz Tate) walk by them, which is even mentioned by Anthony. Another more overt example is when Farhad (Shaun Toub) speaks in Farsi to his daughter at a gun store in Persian, as the gun store manager throws out prejudicial comments toward Farhad. Many of the scenes display racism, but the focus is on an incident before that triggered emotions such as rage, fear, and hatred. These powerful emotions burn violently inside each person when being hostile, as the individual regresses into simplistic thinking using their stereotypes and generalizations as guides. When each person regresses through anger someone always tends to get hurt either physically or emotionally. In turn this anger breeds more anger much like Hydra, as when one head is cut off two new heads grow out. The anger develops into fear of similar incidents which then is communicated to friends, media, or other channels of communication. Sometimes people simply neglect to inform others of racist behavior in fear of repercussions. Consequently, the fear brings about more negative generalizations that feed the hatred. In the story the hatred is directed toward people due to their ethnicity, as race is the easiest thing to observe since it rests within the skin color of each person. CrashRead full review
Get over the fact of the improbable nature of the chains of event and sit back and enjoy a truly excellent ensemble cast who provided career quality performances. Terrance Howard, Thandie Newton, Sandra Bullock, Brendan Fraiser, Matt Dillon, Michael Pena, Don Cheadle, Ryan Phillipe, Chris"Ludacris" Bridges, and so many more. Wow - such great acting for such small roles!
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