Film Review:
Crash By:Kyle Carr
I came into this viewing with literally zero expectations.
The last time that happened I was seventeen and I was pleasantly surprised by
the hokey film, Hot Rod. The film Crash, though very different from the
mainstream, provides you with what could only be described as the poor man’s
Magnolia. An ensemble cast that
includes, among others, Don Cheadle and Brenden Fraser, provides a good mix of
compelling drama, and emotional context.
The story revolves around several arcs intertwining over the
course of two days. Racism looms over
this film heavily as each character encounters some degree of it throughout.
The cultural diversity amongst the actors reflects this. Some powerful scenes occur with a Hispanic
locksmith and his daughter being encountered by a disgruntled East Indian store
clerk. There’s also an interesting look at what some would consider a unique
case of police brutality. This theme continues throughout as corruption and the
cost some are willing to pay to keep a secret are displayed. There’s a good mix of contrast amongst the
cast in portraying people who mean well vs. people who mean harm. The problem I find with ensemble casts are
its hard to really give each character their proper screen time.
Negatives about the film include and are pretty much isolated to; the ending. I was not satisfied with that ending what so ever. Woe is me, I suppose, and perhaps this film will hit home harder for someone else more captivated by the over all story. This film how ever, to me deserved slightly more arc or in the very least a culminating catastrophe where somehow each character received some sort of triumph, or personal anguish. C’est la vie, I digress.
The filming displayed was fairly well done. The angles weren’t the most exciting, but the background of most settings provided the perfect tone for most scenes. The narrative was non-existent in my opinion and rightfully so. So many unique points of view are displayed, and screen time distributed evenly, there’s no real main protagonist. Thusly no need to have underlying plot saver for those less informed or disinterested. This film is a thinker and thusly, a narrative stops us from asking questions, piecing the story scene by scene and sitting idly as each part in the story becomes part of the preceding.
Negatives about the film include and are pretty much isolated to; the ending. I was not satisfied with that ending what so ever. Woe is me, I suppose, and perhaps this film will hit home harder for someone else more captivated by the over all story. This film how ever, to me deserved slightly more arc or in the very least a culminating catastrophe where somehow each character received some sort of triumph, or personal anguish. C’est la vie, I digress.
The filming displayed was fairly well done. The angles weren’t the most exciting, but the background of most settings provided the perfect tone for most scenes. The narrative was non-existent in my opinion and rightfully so. So many unique points of view are displayed, and screen time distributed evenly, there’s no real main protagonist. Thusly no need to have underlying plot saver for those less informed or disinterested. This film is a thinker and thusly, a narrative stops us from asking questions, piecing the story scene by scene and sitting idly as each part in the story becomes part of the preceding.
To say that there’s a fair bit of salty dialogue would be an
understatement. Racism can’t be tip toed
around unfortunately and be effective. Well not if it’s one of the major cogs
propelling the story anyways. So with that
being said the amount of racial epithets in this film is pretty noticeable. However
not on the level of Scar Face with the F bomb or Django Unchained with a
commonly known epithet as well. This is absolutely necessary in my opinion and
is used tastefully throughout.
The score lacked, and tracks displayed throughout were not
memorable to me upon reflection. Too much thinking going on I guess for me to
really be moved by the score. Ominous
tones?
The editing was well done, one scene in particular comes to
mind between a man and his daughter being threatened. This was done so well and
the continuation of the plot afterwards is the beginning to everything being
mostly tied up by the end. This was akin the Gran Torino in terms of dramatic
display and really had you somewhat on the edge of your seat. The special
effects weren’t plentiful throughout, some interesting use of man imposed
inflictions did however occur.
For me the
performance that stole the show was Terrence Howard. He really showed his range in comparison to
his type cast roles at the time of this filming as a cop or street thug. He
conveyed the conflictions of a man being thrown into his personal circus well.
Nice performances by Don Cheadel, Ryan Phillipe, Matt Dhillon, and Larenz Tate
are on display while Sandra Bullock and Brenden Fraser, quite frankly could
have done better. ‘Shout out to the ATL’
as Ludacris makes his acting debut as well playing somewhat of an antithesis of
himself.
Crash was a decent film, not a movie I’d pay to put on my shelf and look at in non alphabetical order, but a film you wouldn’t be totally upset viewing if there was nothing on and you were stuck inside sick all day. That reads pretty bleak, so allow me to assure you that this is probably an aberration, perhaps I’m crazy but this film surprises me with its accolades.
It’s no Hot Rod
7/10
Crash was a decent film, not a movie I’d pay to put on my shelf and look at in non alphabetical order, but a film you wouldn’t be totally upset viewing if there was nothing on and you were stuck inside sick all day. That reads pretty bleak, so allow me to assure you that this is probably an aberration, perhaps I’m crazy but this film surprises me with its accolades.
It’s no Hot Rod
7/10
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