Characters come straight from the assembly line of screenwriting archetypes, and too often they act in ways that archetypes, rather than human beings, do.
Comment
05/06/05
Crash (2005)
75
%
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:194
Fresh:146
Rotten:48
Average Rating:7.1/10
Consensus: A raw and unsettling morality piece on modern angst and urban disconnect, Crash examines the dangers of bigotry and xenophobia in the lives of interconnected Angelenos.
Theatrical Release:12-08-2005
Synopsis: A Brentwood housewife and her DA husband. A Persian store owner. Two police detectives who are also lovers. A black television director and his wife. A Mexican locksmith. Two car-jackers. A rookie... [More]
Starring: Thandie Newton, Matt Dillon, Don Cheadle, Michael Pena
Director: Paul Haggis
Reviews for Crash
121 - 140 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
The characters and individual dramas remain interesting in a personal way, but the overall conception of Crash is hackneyed.
05/06/05
The movie's 'naturalistic' photography and 'honest' racial invective are at odds with the theatricality of its speechifying and the contrivances of its chain of coincidences.
05/06/05
Controversy isn't nearly as intriguing when it is created merely for controversy's sake.
05/06/05
Haggis opens up little spaces for his actors to shine.
05/06/05
Click to read the article
05/06/05
The theme is racism. Let me say that again: The theme is racism. I could say it 500 more times because that's how many times the movie says it, in every single scene.
05/06/05
A series of vignettes cutting across economic and racial lines, bringing together characters by random chance, watching them collide (hence the title) and picking up the pieces in ways that are sometimes hopeful, sometimes not.
05/06/05
Crash wants to be taken seriously as a meditation on our anxiety-plagued times, but the coincidences are too pat, the tugs on the heartstrings too insistent.
05/06/05
Cheadle serves as the movie's Greek chorus, sorting out the fender benders that serve as a metaphor for a city where, Haggis implies, racial profiling rivals moviemaking as a leading activity.
05/06/05
What emerges from the movie's emotional fender-bending and concentrated irony are moments of awe-inspiring reach, the kind of full-throttle acting that demands attention.
05/06/05
You will watch much of Crash in dread. That's not so much because you know things are going to get worse -- they do -- before they get better, but because you know Haggis is getting to the nut of things.
05/06/05
The film isn’t, by any means, unpleasant to watch, though it is a shamelessly derivative button-pusher.
05/06/05
A provocative urban morality play, wherein archetypal characters give voice to the seething anger and bitter disappointments people usually keep to themselves, and people make sweeping generalizations about each other based on race or class.
05/06/05
“Crash” is the first great film of 2005. No other film released this year has the power to grab, challenge, rattle, unsettle, entertain and touch its audience like this.
05/06/05
Haggis gets several 'best performances of their careers' from his actors including Sandra Bullock, Matt Dillon, Thandie Newton, Jennifer Esposito, and Terrence Dashon Howard.
05/06/05
It has a sense of urgency about what it's trying to convey that makes it feel more important and there's not a missed moment to make an impact.
05/06/05
This is one beguiling ride though what drives us emotionally and what dark, sorrowful detours we sometime swerve into.
05/06/05
...a truly grown-up film with some of the best work you're likely to see on screen this year.
05/06/05
Everything feels pat, and the result leaves you feeling a bit cheated.
05/06/05
Latest News for Crash
November 02, 2009:
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August 30, 2008:
A film teeming with solemn recognition of the nasty complexities of living in a multicultural society, and much of what remains unspoken racially in America being neatly shoved under a complacent rug. 
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October 25, 2007:
Crash, Two Views: A testosterone-soaked LA, in a parable of male redemption forged on the backs of women. And, a high anxiety crash course, along the country's race and class divide.
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May 24, 2007:
Screenwriter Paul Haggis Enticed Back to "Bond 22"
If you liked "Casino Royale," (and who didn't?) you'll be happy to know that the screenwriting trio is now back in action for the 22nd Bond flick. More...
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