AN ATTENTION-GETTING DEBUT

CRASH
Written and directed by Paul Haggis; cinematography by James Muro and Dana Gonzales; edited by Hughes Winborne; music by Mark Isham, Oliver Nathan, Shani Rigsbee, and Kathleen York; production design by Laurence Bennett; art direction by Brandee Dell’Aringa; set decoration by Linda Lee Sutton; costume design by Linda M. Bass
With: Don Cheadle, Matt Dillon, Brendan Fraser, Sandra Bullock, Thandie Newton, Terrence Howard, Ryan Phillippe, Loretta Devine, Jennifer Esposito, William Fichtner, Michael Pena, Nona Gaye, Larenz Tate, Tony Danza, Shaun Toub, Bahar Soomekh, Bruce Kirby, Beverly Todd, Daniel Dae Kim, Alexis Rhee, and Ludacris. Rated R for language, sexual content and some violence. Running time: 113 minutes



Reviewed by Joel Johnson

Crash is the first great, thought-provoking film of 2005. This powerful feature-film directorial debut by Paul Haggis heralds the full public emergence of a tremendous talent. If that name sounds a little bit familiar, it should. Haggis was the Oscar-nominated screenwriter for this year’s Best Picture Oscar-winner Million Dollar Baby. And Million Dollar Baby was not his first foray into writing. The fifty-two-year-old Haggis has been working in the entertainment industry as a writer for thirty years. He has won an Emmy for his work on the TV hit show thirtysomething and a half-dozen Gemini awards for the hit TV show Due South in his native Canada. The success of Million Dollar Baby and now Crash means that he has moved from the anonymity of most screenwriters—even the very best ones—to become a name recognized by a significant number of filmgoers.

The film that he created, first as a writer and then put on the screen as a director, is an ensemble production that connects a myriad of individuals who differ by race, ethnic background, language, and socioeconomic status. About the only thing they share is that they live in Los Angeles. They likely would not see themselves as part of the same community. Don Cheadle sets the tone by noting that Angelenos do not share a common bond and yet have a need to connect with one another. Consequently, they have a propensity to crash into one another to achieve the connection that everyday life denies them. Although it might be dubious that anyone would actually want to have the interactions that ensue, it does illustrate the isolation, the aggression, the vulnerability, and the sense of dislocation that more and more is a part of contemporary life, whether that life is lived in Los Angeles, New York City, or rustic Maine. The urban landscape accelerates this trend but does not serve as its only environment.

The film is successful in large measure because the film has a terrific cast of actors and gives them the opportunity to act. These include well-known faces such as Oscar-nominee Cheadle, Matt Dillon, Brendan Fraser, and Sandra Bullock. Fraser and, especially, Bullock deliver the dramatic goods despite being better known for lighter, more comedic roles. Longtime TV star and current talk show host Tony Danza makes the most of his single brief scene. The cast includes the talented, though somewhat lower profile actors Thandie Newton, Ryan Phillippe, Loretta Devine, Jennifer Esposito, William Fichtner, Terrence Howard, Michael Pena, Nona Gaye, and Larenz Tate. Shaun Toub and Bahar Soomekh each receive a rare opportunity to play a person and not simply an ethnic stereotype. Rapper Ludacris, much better known as a performer, is impressive in a flashy role. He plays a self-styled, socially aware carjacker named Anthony who bemoans the racism of whites responding to him with fear and suspicion. Being a black man who uses a gun to intimidate people into yielding their vehicles provides Anthony with no insight into why whites might be concerned about the possible criminal behavior of black males. Haggis is deeply interested in the discrepancies between who people think they are, what other people think about them, and how they behave. Matt Dillon, a veteran racist cop, delivers what may be the film’s touchstone when he tells his former rookie partner Ryan Phillippe, “Wait ’til you’ve done this job for awhile. You think you know who you are, but you have no idea.”

This film is well constructed with its interconnected vignettes. They fit together almost seamlessly, like a mosaic. The writing is superb. Nearly every character shows something admirable and good—and something shameful and bad—just like every human. Matt Dillon and Thandie Newton have two superlative scenes together that illustrate this ever so powerfully. There’s hardly a phrase or a word in the dialogue during the film that strikes a false note. The gut-wrenching quality of the film is that we get to witness how a person affected by one interaction may behave in another. We see how easily preconceptions about people who are different can lead to misunderstandings. In an environment of fear and loathing, misunderstandings can be deadly. The LA that we are shown covers the socioeconomic spectrum, going from the seats of government to the homes of the prosperous and the powerful to working-class homes and side- alley businesses. And, of course, we see the streets—the endless streets of that great car-town LA.

Crash keeps the tension well modulated with some intense, provocative scenes followed by more placid scenes that allow both the characters and the audience to process what they have experienced. This capacity to properly pace the action shows the importance of effective collaboration of the film’s editor with the writer and the director—here one and the same individual.

It will be nearly a year until the next set of Oscars is handed out. That is a long time to keep the profile of a film like this in the minds of Oscar voters, and there will be dozens of other films coming out, trying to secure a place in those same minds. However, don’t be surprised if this film and Mr. Haggis specifically are among those nominated. At the very least, his film should be included on lots of lists honoring the ten—or so—best films of 2005.  

 

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