crash review

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Average Ratings

Value for Money	8.7/10
Reviewer Rating	9/10
Overall Rating	7.9/10

100% Recommended6 out of 6 Reviews

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By dblock on 29th Mar 2007

dblock's Ratings

Starring Actor/Actress	Matt Dillon, Sandra Bullock
Where Did You See It?	DVD
Value for money	9/10
Overall value	10/10
dblock's recommendation

Good Points

Oscar winning film, strong cast.

Bad Points

Some racial stereotyping which may be uncomfortable subject for some.

General Comments

Crash was the Oscar winning film of 2005.

<< Cast >>
Karina Arroyave ... Elizabeth
Dato Bakhtadze ... Lucien
Sandra Bullock ... Jean Cabot
Don Cheadle ... Det. Graham Waters
Art Chudabala ... Ken Ho
Sean Cory ... Motorcycle Cop
Tony Danza ... Fred
Keith David ... Lt. Dixon
Loretta Devine ... Shaniqua Johnson
Matt Dillon ... Officer John Ryan

The film essentially deals with an uncomfortable subject, racism and tackles head on with many interweaving storylines which end up coming together in the end. We see many situations which define racial stereotypes and show what effect they have. They show both victim and purporter's of racism and show in effect they are all formed from illogical experiences. One of the most powerful sub-plots involves Matt Dillon's character, Officer John Ryan, coming full circle and in his experience with a black couple. He firstly stops a black couple in a car. He accuses them of many crimes which they do not commit and when the women confronts the Officer, he orders a full body search for reported firearms. This is a very uncomfortable experience for her and the officer appears to abuse his position. He makes both the women and her husband feel inferior to him. This later results in increased tension between both husband and wife over this incident and a frank discussion of power and authority of senior black people in comparison of those respective white people. This is a powerful scene and engages the viewer with an emotive and sometimes controversial subjects.

Without giving away too much of the plot, we see a role reversal of positions between the officer and Karina Arroyave's character in which she must make a life-saving decision in regard to a man who in effect abused her. This is just one of many sub plots which run through the movie and like other films such as Snatch, these sub plots manage to all link together and you understand and appreciate each character even more. The linking point is a car crash and is what the film is named after, yet the crash itself is not the centre point, rather the interaction between the many strong characters, each with their respective thought and prejudices. The film showcases racial intolerance but then goes on to show how punitive these views and prejudices can be. Therefore in effect it seems a positive film despite so controversial topics being dealt with. Indeed it is a worthy Oscar winner.

Total Respect: +1