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Crash
Film review by Taryn A. Harris
Paul Haggis of "Million Dollar Baby"
fame, delivers a powerful, disturbing and entertaining look at
contemporary racism and bigotry.
Crash is a series of interconnected stories
about the lives of a dozen or so Los Angeles residents and the
events that bring them together.
Almost all the races are represented --
White, Black, Asian, Persian, Latino and the film pulls no punches
when it comes to dealing with race, class and destiny.
The drama centers around not one, but two
car accidents, a carjacking, vandalism, the shooting of an officer
and racial profiling.
Matt Dillon, in one of his finest performances
portrays Officer Ryan, a vile, racist cop and Ryan Phillippe
is his young, idealistic partner Officer Hanson. Officer Hanson
finds his partner as loathsome as the rest of us, yet by the
end of the film one will find redemption and the other will be
condemned.
Sandra Bullock is especially good as the
angry wife of the district attorney, played by Brendan Fraser
who is surrounded by and dependent on minorities, but also frightened
and angered by them. She too has an epiphany.
After Anthony (Chris "Ludacris"
Bridges) finishes lecturing his friend Peter (Larenz Tate) on
racism and reverse racism, he and Peter commit a crime, which
has severe consequences for both of them.
Crash is one of the more honest tales of
the nature of bigotry and how good people can do bad things and
vice versa.
Some scenes were harder than others to
watch, but there were several moments of levity and in the end
I believe the film will accomplish a greater good.
Kudos to the cast and Paul Haggis for an
amazing film!
Crash also stars Jennifer Esposito, Don
Cheadle, Thandie Newton, Terrence Howard, Loretta Devine, Tony
Danza and Keith David.
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