Crash - Movie Review

This movie is very complicated and involves so many different side stories, I decided to copy the synopsis from the blockbuster.com website (in italics) to simplify the description and save myself some time.

Graham (Don Cheadle) is a police detective whose brother is a street criminal, and it hurts him to know his mother cares more about his ne'er-do-well brother than him. Graham's partner is Ria (Jennifer Esposito), who is also his girlfriend, though she has begun to bristle at his emotional distance, as well as his occasional insensitivity over the fact he's African-American and she's Hispanic. Rick (Brendan Fraser) is an L.A. district attorney whose wife, Jean (Sandra Bullock), makes little secret of her fear and hatred of people unlike herself. Jean's worst imaginings about people of color are confirmed when her SUV is carjacked by two African-American men -- Anthony (Chris Bridges, aka Ludacris), who dislikes white people as much as Jean hates blacks, and Peter (Larenz Tate), who is more open minded. Cameron (Terrence Howard) is a well-to-do African-American television producer with a beautiful wife, Christine (Thandie Newton). While coming home from a party, Cameron and Christine are pulled over by Officer Ryan (Matt Dillon), who subjects them to a humiliating interrogation (and her to an inappropriate search) while his new partner, Officer Hansen (Ryan Phillippe), looks on. Daniel (Michael Pena) is a hard-working locksmith and dedicated father who discovers that his looks don't lead many of his customers to trust him. And Farhad (Shaun Toub) is a Middle Eastern shopkeeper who is so constantly threatened in the wake of the 9/11 attacks that he decided he needs a gun to defend his family.

The first hour of the film is a little confusing as it is spent setting up all of these stories and basically showing the very worst in people. The general themes revolve around racism, fear, abuse of power, sexual misconduct and general ignorance. The second hour is spent tying all of these stories together and making powerful statements. The general themes of the second hour are karma, change, forgiveness, redemption and closure. The brilliance of this movie is that there are so many different possible themes and lessons to be learned, each person who watches it will probably bring something different away. I will definitely watch this movie again and I'm sure I will catch things I didn't see the first time. This one is worth a look.

Rating: 4 of 5 stars
Would I watch it again: Yes
Starring: Sandra Bullock, Don Cheadle, Brendan Fraser, Ludacris, Ryan Phillippe, Matt Dillon

I typically watch movies on Monday, Wednesday and Friday while riding the ACE Train from Tracy to Santa Clara. The opinions expressed are those of me, myself and I.