Movie review: Crash
Denis and I just watched the movie Crash last week. It's been out for a while, but we are on the Netflix delayed viewing plan. We add new movies to our list before they have been released and then they work their way up to the top eventually for us to see them.
You may have heard of Crash, a movie about racial discrimination. It is an ensemble piece with many characters whose lives intersect in a period of 36 hours in LA. This movie is intended to explore the issue of racial discrimination and because of that, it is definitely a very heavy-handed plot. At first I didn't think that I was going to like it, because I don't generally like movies that are really obvious in the way that they make a point. Every scene involves racial discrimination. Some of it is really horrible and blatant and some is more subtle. The targets of prejudice are varied; blacks, latinos, asians, syrians.
This is certainly not a pleasant film. Many of the scenes are hard to watch. The value comes as the characters develop and we learn some of the reasons why they have developed their opinions and views. Some of the problems stem from misunderstandings, cultural differences or past experiences. We are made to sympathize with each character even though we disagree with their actions.
The real payoff comes starting about halfway through the film as each person is confronted with the consequenses of the actions that they have taken. There are wonderful moments of realization in each character's life as they are challenged to question their beliefs. The plot is certainly not predictable as there is always something to surprise you. Denis and I gave it two thumbs up.
This movie is rated R for "violence, sexual content and some language".
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2 comments:
Hey Tracy. Yes I have seen A Mighty Wind. I didn't find it to be as funny as Best in Show or Spinal Tap. Maybe because I wasn't around when that type of music was popular. I still thought it was really funny though. Have you seen Waiting for Guffman?
We did see Waiting for Guffman and This is Spinal Tap. I honestly don't remember much about Waiting for Guffman. We saw Mighty Wind first, then Best in Show then Spinal tap and we enjoyed them in descending order. Our theory is that you like the first one that you saw the best because that is when the spoofing style seems the cleverest to you. Does that theory hold true for you?
The sountrack to mighty wind is so funny because each of the songs that you only saw a little snippet of them playing is on the album in its entirety. I was so impressed that they wrote all these songs out and they are so funny. AND most of the actors are actually playing their instruments. The exception is some of the "New Mainstreet Singers". Some of them were just pretending to play.
Anyway, now I decided to actually put the album on and listen to it again.
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