Raw, Unsettling, Exceptional. Review on Crash Movie

It takes guts to make a film like Crash. A modern day discourse on racism and everyday existential problems, the film is about people and the circumstances they find themselves in. They'd all like to believe they are living in an era where racism is a thing of the past. But they're all driven by its strong undercurrents, that sometimes result in tragedies, and sometimes hope.

It would be difficult for me to walk you through the plot, as there is always something happening in someone's life. There is Jean and her high profile husband, who is a district attorney, a persian store owner, two police detectives who're also a multi-racial couple, a television film maker and his wife, a mexican locksmith, two car thieves, a racist cop, and a middle aged Korean couple. They all live in Los Angeles, busy with the on-goings of their tumultous lives. And then, their lives come crashing against one another.

It is really difficult to even start from the beginning, as so much seems to be happening simultaneously. Jean's car gets stolen at gun point, by two twenty something black men. Of the two, one is comparatively harmless and more tolerant. He carries a small figurine of a patron saint in his pocket, and humors his more disgruntled partner. His partner is angry at the situation he is in. He is angry at the racism he feels he encounters everywhere, and as a result he decides it is okay to steal from the white. They drive their new acquisition through the streets of LA, only to accidentally drive over an old Korean. Apprehensive about the trouble it could get them into, they leave the hurt victim by the street and drive by to make some money.

Meanwhile, Jean is angry and a little shaken over her experience. Her husband is carefully planning out his next move, as any wrong move could cause him to lose a couple of votes. But Jean is more vocal about her frustration. She screams for a change of locks, in the presence of a hispanic locksmith, and their maid. She makes attempts at reasoning with her husband using racial bias. The harmless hispanic, perhaps used to the reaction he has just witnessed, returns home to a 5-year-old daughter with a fear of guns. Their family has just moved into a better locality, and he tells his daughter that he was safe this long because of a magical cloak that he says she can have now.

His life collides with that of a Persian store owner who has recently bought a gun. Harmless and short tempered, he and his daughter get ammunition for a gun they barely know how to use. But when racists ruin his store under the assumption that he is an arab, he decides he can only blame the locksmith who didn't fix the latch to his door. With his gun he confronts the locksmith in the presence of his daughter. Thinking only she can save him because of her magical cloak, she runs to her father just as he is being shot. Luckily, the persian had fake ammunition. The little girl walks away unhurt, and thinking the cloak did it, and the old persian walks away hopeful, thinking he has finally found his farishtha in the little girl.

During the course of the film, you also meet a well off black american couple. Driving back from an award show, they're stopped by two policemen who've been asked to keep track of the two boys who've stolen Jean's car. Officer Ryan tails the couple, orders them out, and then fondles the woman before letting them go. In his humiliation, the husband does what he thinks is best to keep them both alive. But his wife isn't as impressed, as she'd have wanted her man to stand up for her. This becomes a moment of truth for him, as he has never stood up to his believes. Despite his success as a director, he has always taken cues from a white american who assumed he knew better. But in the end his stands up to his convictions, when his life collides with that of the black american boy who stole Jean's car.

Officer Ryan, the racist policemen that we all fear and loathe is no less angry and frustrated. Like everyone else, he lives with his own agony. His father is a sick old man, who lost his career. Ryan blames his situation on the black people his father once helped, and ends up taking it out on everyone else he encounters. But just when you think you can only dislike him, he proves you wrong by saving the television filmmaker's wife from a car accident. He is only as good or bad as the next person.

Unfortunately, his partner, Officer Hanson is as critical as we are. He is perhaps better than officer Ryan, as he has more empathy. But we see him fall, when he accidently kills one of the black boys, only to leave him by the side of the road, for fear of getting into trouble.

Finally there is Graham Waters, a policeman who is secretive about his concern for his mother. Sadly for him, the people in his world don't see him for the man that he is, and eventually even his mother blames him for the death of her other son. Her other son is no other than the man Officer Hanson killed.

The film stuns you by its fast pace of circumstances. But despite its bleak theme, it exudes a lot of hope. The film ends on a positive note, with several of its characters seeing the light. As is apparent, the film is a racial thriller that also makes an attempt at analyzing it better. However, the film also deals with us as people, as it seems to say through its characters that we're all human. And just as its characters, it is easy for us to fall prey to our follies and anger. And like them, we sometimes get a second chance if we are lucky.

A definite must-see by director Paul Haggis, the film brags of an impressive star cast with actors like Don Cheadle, Sandra Bullock, Brenden Fraser, Matt Dillon, Ryan Phillippe and others.