Mar 29, 2006 04:42 PM
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(Updated Mar 29, 2006 04:42 PM)
Even though this movie was creating oscar buzz, I really didn't that anything could topple Brokeback Mountain and prevent it from getting all the top honors at the Oscar Awards. I was pleasantly surprised when it won the oscar for best film. At that point of time crash had already released but I had yet to see it. The Oscar firmly put it in the must see list.
I went for the movie with a friend without reading any kind of a review of the movie. I knew that the underlying theme was racism. The Movie in a nutshell is the story of a number of characters who have no connection whatsoever before this day and before the day is over their lives crash into each other.
These number of characters are portrayed by a stellar cast comprising of oscar nominees Don Cheadle, Matt Dylan, Terence Howard. Also starring are Brendan Frasier, Sandra Bullock, Ryan Phillippe and rap star Ludacris.
Each and every performance in the movie is fabulous and not one of them should get a bad review. All the other actors in the movie also deserve to be recognised.
Coming to a little bit more of the story, the movie has the following plot.The district attorney (Brendan Fraser) and his wife (Sandra Bullock) are carjacked at gunpoint by two black men (Ludacris and Larenz Tate). At home, the wife orders the locks changed and then changed again because a Mexican (Michael Pena) did the first job. A black TV director (Terrence Howard) and his wife (Thandie Newton) while driving home, is stopped by two white cops. One officer (Matt Dillon) gropes the wife to humiliate the husband, while the other cop (a standout Ryan Phillippe) watches helplessly. A Persian store owner (Shaun Toub), taken for an Arab, buys a gun for protection. Don Cheadle plays a detective who ties these stories together when he finds a dead body in the road. Even though this may not seem interesting, when you see the movie you will see how well the screenplay has weaved these stories together. A lot more goes on in the Movie but rather than describing it all, my suggestion is to go and watch the movie pronto before it goes off your local multiplex or theatre.
A few scene's in which I feel the acting was absolutely fabulous include; When Matt Dylan(a cop), who on the previous night has groped a black woman(thandie newton, has to rescue the same woman from a car crash. The range of emotions she goes through, what he goes through. It was absolutely moving. In one of the last scenes when Don Cheadle's mother tells him to leave after identifying his brother's body, She accuses him of being to good for her and not looking after her. The look on his face when he walks out of the hospital is so real that it brought me to the verge of tears.
Even though this movie is a dark drama with lots of rage and hatred in the end it gives hope. At least for me, the movie left me speechless at the end and it gets you thinking about how vulnerable you are no matter what you do or who you are? I think what the director is trying to say through the movie is that there is a silver lining to everything and life has a way to balance itself out on its own. We are helpless in this and we have to take it as we go along this rollercoaster called life. What goes around comes around. I am thankful to the director for making crash which takes an unflinching look at complexities of life in america from both sides of the coin, i.e. from the view of the white people and from the view of people who are black or have an ethnic background.
Kudos to the excellent directing, screenplay, script, cinematography and brilliant acting. This film should be watched by everyone. Its definitely one which will remain with you for some time.
