Liz's Review - "Crash"

Hello my lovely class...I'm going to write a review about an amazing movie I've seen called "Crash"! I saw it three times in theaters and I bought and watched it this weekend. I thought this was one of the best movies of the summer, and one of the greatest movies I had seen in a long time. I REALLY like powerful movies that just make you think, and this was definitely one of those that can still affect you each time you see it. It's hard to sum up this movie because the movie consists of many stories that intertwine with one another, but this movie is generally about racism and how everyone is affected by it. The director of this movie was Paul Haggis, who produced and wrote the screenplay for "Million Dollar Baby" as well as this movie. One of the strongest elements in this movie was how the characters contrasted with one another, but still shared one thing in common: they were all, to some degree, racist and judgmental. The film consists of a 32 hour time period where all of the characters somehow collide with one another. With every new character there is a new stereotype pointed out and each one is proved right and/or wrong. One of my favorite aspects of this movie is how you see the characters in their worst light, showing the hardened, judgmental side of their personality, yet you still see their soft side and are able to feel sympathy for each character to some extent. Each character has their own story but they are ALL intertwined in some way and affect one another. One weakness I noticed in this movie was that it was a bit partial to one race, the Mexicans. They are shown in only a good light and we never really get to see their weaknesses, and I think it kind of messed up the balance of the movie. At the same time, however, it is possible that Haggis did this on purpose for reasons we don't know. All in all, this was an extremely powerful movie about a huge issue in our society. It definitely lives up to it's R rating because of it's intensity, language, some violence, and a bit of nudity and there are a few extremely intense scenes that really make the movie what it is. I thought the score for this movie was amazing and enhanced the feeling the movie gives. Rent it please...or buy it!