Intersections and Overpasses

RATING: B+

Starring: Sandra Bullock, Don Cheadle, Matt Dillon, Jennifer Esposito, William Fichtner, Brendan Fraser, Terrence Howard, Chris "Ludacris" Bridges, Thandie Newton, Michael Pena, Ryan Phillippe, Larenz Tate. Music by Mark Isham,, Director of Photography J. Michael Muro, Production Design by Laurence Bennett, Produced by Cathy Shulman, Don Cheadle, Bob Yari, Mark R. Harris, Bobby Moresco, Paul Haggis, Story by Paul Haggis, Screenplay by Paul Haggis and Bobby Moresco, Directed by Paul Haggis.

Rated R, Running Time 104 mins., 2.40 to 1 Anamorphic Scope Aspect Ratio.

Paul Haggis's "Crash" is a powerful ensemble drama filled with a cast of recognized and underrated actors. This tale of the collision of multiple lives in the city of Los Angeles has a misleading title, but don't be fooled. This isn't another adaptation of the popular J.G. Ballard novel that David Cronenberg made into a controversial movie some time ago. Nor is it about the effects of one dramatic incident upon multiple lives like Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu's "Amores Perros" or "21 Grams", but rather an intricately woven story involving multi-dimensional characters. Haggis's name may be familiar to fans of the recent Best Picture winner, "Million Dollar Baby"; he adapted stories by F.X. Toole into the screenplay. That was indeed a powerful and well written film with complex characters; but where "Million Dollar Baby" was filled with familiar story devices designed to evoke unworthy sympathy, "Crash" pulls no punches and hits closer to home because of the questions it raises.

"Crash" follows the lives of over a dozen individuals; chief among them is police detective Don Cheadle, although the story is not told through his eyes. Cheadle along with his partner/lover Jennifer Esposito are investigating the discovery of a youth's body by the roadside before the story takes us back 36 hours earlier. Chris "Ludacris" Bridges showcases his hidden talent as an actor and authoritative voice from his radio dj days as he plays a black youth trying to school his friend Larenz Tate on the ways of the world. Bridges and Tate share and interesting conversation on the constant expression of fear from white America towards them even though they are clean cut and well dressed. Exiting an above average restaurant Bridges expresses disgust over poor service because of their color and because they are walking through a white area. "If anyone here should be scared, it's us!" Bridges brings up a few valid points in his argument, but just as we're ready to form an opinion about these two decent guys they pull guns from their waistbands and carjack a young white couple.

That white couple are Sandra Bullock and Brendan Fraser and little do Bridges and Tate know that they just jacked the District Attorney and his wife. Later in the comfort of their home, while Bullock tries to recover from the shock of the incident, Fraser and his spin-doctors debate over whether it should be covered up. Press about getting jacked by two black men may affect the votes he needs in the black community. Usually known for lighthearted and goofy characters, Fraser is calm and cool in a role that fits him like a glove. Bullock’s performance achieves something I never thought possible which is surpassing every role in her entire career. The incident leaves her raw and makes her question her safe and ordered life for the first time. It also leads to paranoia as she expresses to Fraser that the tattooed Hispanic hired to change their locks "can't be trusted not to sell their key to one of his homees."

That tattooed Hispanic is played wonderfully by Michael Pena who had a minor role in "Million Dollar Baby." Pena takes us to the home of his character where we discover that he's a married man with an adolescent daughter who sleeps under her bed because she fears a bullet flying through her room. Beneath the clean shaven head and tattoos is a hard working man who has recently moved his family into a safer neighborhood to make a better life for them. Pena's travels as a locksmith take him to the business of convenience store owner Shaun Toub, who is bitter that he isn't accepted as an American citizen. Constant vandalizing of his store forces him to buy a gun over the protests of his daughter Bahar Sommekh. The fact that he is mistaken for Arab instead Persian makes him an angry and difficult man. His negligence and refusal to believe that Pena isn't trying to cheat him over a door repair job will come back to haunt them both.

Through the L.A. nighttime streets cruise patrolmen Matt Dillon and Ryan Phillippe. Rookie Phillippe's worse fears about his partner’s racial prejudice come true when they pull over black couple Terrence Howard and Thandie Newton. What begins as a misdemeanor for public sexual behavior turns into humiliation as Dillon goes too far by frisking Howard and groping Newton. The result forms a rift between this upper class couple who continually question whether they have sold out and aren't "black enough". Howard turns out to be a Hollywood TV. director and Newton is disgusted that her husband allowed the incident to occur while he’s amazed she has no clue what type of racially motivated world they live in. Phillippe too discovers that everything isn't black and white in his police department when black police Lieutenant Keith David suggests that reporting Dillon's behavior would jeopardize both of their careers.

Dillon may initially appear as an arrogant, racist on a power trip, but he's not without his own problems. As his elderly father suffers from a urinary tract infection, he continually tries to find him decent health care as well as perform his duties as a cop. Dillon is also no stranger to goofy characters but puts in one of his best performances in a racially charged argument with heath care administrator Loretta Devine. He's more of a bigot than a racist and just when we think we have him figured out a second incendiary confrontation with Newton alters our opinions entirely.

Don Cheadle co-produced "Crash" and even though his character is the most identifiable, it’s good to see he hasn't chosen the cleanest cut role in the film. He's an honest cop but he's not without flaws. His lover Esposito feels he distances himself from her and all of those around him but nothing could be farther from the truth. He's only hiding his emotions as he deals with a junkie mother who favors his younger gang-banger brother. In an attempt to save his convicted brother who's just about used up his "third strike", Cheadle agrees to frame a racist cop in a killing of a black officer who may have been dirty. Cheadle again easily proves his versatility with very little dialogue and his ability to convey inner torment with facial expression. It's very easy to tell what's on his mind and what he's thinking.

Haggis claims the idea for "Crash" originated when he was carjacked at gunpoint and in retrospect began to speculate about the lives of his attackers. It was the collision of two worlds that never intersect and after the events of 9/11 the idea became more relevant. Although there are multiple characters and stories and the film runs under two hours its path is perfectly easy to follow. Haggis has obviously studied the ensemble films of Robert Altman, but "Crash" also owes a great deal to Lawrence Kasdan's "Grand Canyon."

Very rare is the fact that the stories are not what are primarily interesting, but the characters themselves. Good cinema not only entertains but gives the audience the chance to think and I'm sure that the dimensional people of this film and their lives will lead to much conversation and debate. Like real life it's impossible to form one opinion of each of this film's characters. Just when we think we've figured them out an action they commit changes our perspective. One character's effort to do the right thing yields disastrous and fatal results, an accident victim is later revealed to be a slave trader, another victim actually stands up for his attacker and gives him the opportunity for a fresh start.

A number of the moments where lives intersect are slightly unbelievable and exist only in the world of the movies. It's the ones that ring true for the individual viewer that work and hit close to home. The film’s construction is beautiful as well as the cinematography by J. Michael Muro which showcases nighttime L.A. and the great distances that lie between cultures as well as individuals. It’s sure to become a topic at the water cooler and is easily one the best and freshest films so far this year.