Crash (2004/I)

Director:

Paul Haggis

Writers (WGA):

Paul Haggis (story)
Paul Haggis (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

6 May 2005 (USA)

Genre:

Crime | Drama

Tagline:

You think you know who you are. You have no idea.

Plot:

Several stories interweave during two days in Los Angeles involving a collection of inter-related characters...

Plot Keywords:

Racist | Director | Brother | Hispanic | Gun

Awards:

Won 3 Oscars. Another 41 wins & 66 nominations

Cast

Karina Arroyave	...	Elizabeth
Dato Bakhtadze	...	Lucien
Sandra Bullock	...	Jean Cabot
Don Cheadle	...	Det. Graham Waters
Art Chudabala	...	Ken Ho
Sean Cory Cooper	...	Motorcycle Cop (as Sean Cory)
Tony Danza	...	Fred
Keith David	...	Lt. Dixon
Loretta Devine	...	Shaniqua Johnson
Matt Dillon	...	Officer John Ryan
Jennifer Esposito	...	Ria
Ime Etuk	...	Georgie (as Ime N. Etuk)
Eddie J. Fernandez	...	Officer Gomez (as Eddie Fernandez)
William Fichtner	...	Flanagan
Howard Fong	...	Store Owner

Also Known As:

L.A. Crash (Germany)

MPAA:

Rated R for language, sexual content and some violence.

Runtime:

112 min | 115 min (director's cut)

Country:

USA | Germany

Language:

English | Persian | Spanish | Mandarin | Korean

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Netherlands:12 | New Zealand:R16 | Switzerland:14 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:14 (canton of Vaud) | USA:R (certificate #40991) | Sweden:7 | Taiwan:R-12 | Argentina:16 | France:U | Iceland:16 | Brazil:14 | Belgium:KT | Chile:TE | India:A | USA:Unrated (director's cut) | South Korea:15 | Ireland:15 (DVD rating) | Hong Kong:IIB | Malaysia:(Banned) (theatrical) | Malaysia:U (DVD) | Japan:PG-12 | Australia:MA | Canada:13+ (Quebec) | Canada:14A (British Columbia) | Canada:14A (Ontario) | UK:15 | Finland:K-11 | Ireland:15A | Singapore:M18 | Germany:12 | Portugal:M/12 | Norway:15 | Philippines:R-13

Filming Locations:

Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Bob Yari Productions

Trivia:

William Fichtner's scenes were shot in just one day.

Goofs:

Factual errors: Even a blank round is potentially lethal at close range. Consider that the sound a bullet makes is from a small explosion within the jacket. In a normal bullet, this small explosion has enough force to propel the slug towards the target. In a blank round, compressed gasses and bits of metal are used to produce the same noise and flash of a gun. These are still propelled with a considerable amount of force.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Graham: It's the sense of touch. In any real city, you walk, you know? You brush past people, people bump into you. In L.A., nobody touches you. We're always behind this metal and glass. I think we miss that touch so much, that we crash into each other, just so we can feel something.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "The Rotten Tomatoes Show: Echelon Conspiracy/Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun Li/Crossing Over (#1.1)" (2009)

Soundtrack:

Maybe Tomorrow

Such A Fine Line Between Oscar and Lifetime Channel Movie...

While this film was well done, I am stunned at both the average voter rating on IMDb and it earning the Best Film for 2005. This is a 'tidy' account of racial conditions in the USA, but no more cutting edge than the content found in any 'All In The Family' sitcom from the 70s. There is little character development, with each being one-dimensional regarding their personal discriminations. If this film is supposed to deliver a message, it was lost in my viewing. It appeared that every character's racial subjectivity was influenced and primarily based on the most recent event with that race. In my opinion, racial conditions have improved and evolved in our country further than this film suggests. Personal discriminations in the film are not subtle and are stereotypical to a fault. It was void of subtleties and wit that truly represent an individual's approach and reaction in real life. Comparing this to the other nominees this year, I wonder what criteria the voters based their vote upon to select Crash as the winner. This would be a 'surf-through' movie if you passed over it on the Lifetime Channel (only A-list cameo appearances save it from this deserved placement). This is a 'one-watch' movie and will likely date itself quickly. I am sure the idea for the film came out of a graduate student's thesis and would work well in stage form with an ethnic cross-section of serious undergraduate drama majors.