Crash

[Amazon Link]
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[4.0 stars] [IMDb Link]

This was a highly-regarded film having to do with racial relations. I was prepared for the usual ode to standard liberal pieties, but (instead) was very pleasantly surprised.

Oh, there are indirect genuflections. HMOs and insurance companies: bad. Guns: bad too. But the main problems are shared by just about all the characters, irrespective of background: they're angry, mistrustful, race-obsessed, and always on edge. (There is, however, one main character who's essentially a saint in comparison to the others, thank goodness.) And the result is full of unexpected twists and (even) occasional humor. Acting is consistently first-rate.

Marina Sirtis is in it, so far out of her usual starship context that I didn't realize it until I saw her name in the credits. Also Tony Danza shows up briefly; no problem recognizing him.

Another oddity: while it's currently number 56 on IMDB's top-250 filmlist, it was pretty much passed over for award nominations. That's kind of an unusual disconnection. [UPDATE: Well, duh. I had assumed Crash came out in 2004, because IMDB said so; for nomination purposes, though, it came out in 2005, and it did get quite a few awards and nominations, and of course you can get up-to-date information about that at IMDB.]


Last Modified 2024-02-04 4:42 AM EDT