The film's real message isn't anti-racism but pro-screenwriter. 'Look how many coincidences we can pile up!' it seems to say. 'Look at how these stories all interlock!'
Comment
05/05/05
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
141 - 160 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
Sprawling Los Angeles drama of race, power, guns and fear is a little too controlled by coincidence, but the ambitions and cast make it thought-provoking.
05/05/05
By attempting to say everything about race, Haggis ultimately says nothing.
05/05/05
This is a masterpiece of substantial proportions.
05/05/05
Superbly crafted and visually stunning from start to finish
05/05/05
[Helmer Paul Haggis] needs to develop a firmer hand on his own work to really shine.
05/05/05
Crash is a movie you want to see for the great acting performances from some unlikely sources.
05/05/05
Haggis' scariest, most insidious success is that in surprising his audience with characters' paths, he makes us recognize our own expectations are built upon stereotypes
05/05/05
With an angry fist shaking in your face, the film asserts that we're all hard-wired to obey preset alarms when we interact with people of different skin tones.
05/05/05
Haggis writes with such directness and such a good ear for everyday speech that the characters seem real and plausible after only a few words. His cast is uniformly strong; the actors sidestep cliches and make their characters particular.
05/05/05
Top CriticThe characters keep surprising themselves and each other, for better and for worse, and they surprise us, too.
05/05/05
While it's a dazzling feat of screenwriting, less would be more...Still, Haggis evinces remarkable skill [and] with actors like these, who needs subtleties?
05/05/05
In Crash, no one gets off easy, and no one is immune to prejudice.
05/05/05
Audiences may cringe as Haggis taps into the kind of offensive images that surreptitiously seep into the brains of even the most open-minded. His point is simple: No one is immune.
05/05/05
It's a skillful piece of filmmaking and an impressive debut, though it's so relentlessly bleak and downbeat for most of its running time that it can't recover when it tries to go soft in its third act.
05/05/05
A grim, histrionic experiment in vehicular metaphor slaughter.
05/05/05
Top CriticLop off a few characters, tighten the narrative geometry, and Crash might have a sledgehammer impact. As it is, the film is content to tap you on the shoulder and ask you to take a look around.
05/05/05
Americans from radically different backgrounds are brought together by a grim serendipity in Paul Haggis's frustrating directorial debut.
05/05/05
Top CriticHaggis challenges our common conceptions about race and allows no character to escape his own hypocrisy.
05/05/05
[The actors] can't quite make Haggis' preachy puppet show feel entirely organic, but they certainly take some of the glare off of the strings.
05/05/05
Latest News for Crash
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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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