1992 was an important year for this country, in much the same way
that 1968 was. War was still in the air, an economic depression was
underway, and race relations had again reached a boiling point, as
evidenced by the L.A. riots.
It's 13 years later, but "Crash" feels very much the product of the
same tensions that produced "Boyz N the Hood" and the brilliant,
short-lived TV series "South Central." In Los Angeles, with its dry
urban sprawl and multi-hued melting pot, one is never far from the
breaking point.
Director Paul Haggis dips into the stew and scoops out a wide
variety of characters: a black T.V. director (Terrence Howard), his
sensitive wife (Thandie Newton), a racist cop (Matt Dillon), his
impressionable partner (Ryan Philippe), the D.A. (Brendan Fraser),
his spoiled spouse (Sandra Bullock), a Mexican locksmith (Michael
Pena), and a pair of carjackers (Ludacris and Larenz Tate). Circling
the action and completing the color chart are cops Jennifer Esposito
and Don Cheadle.
Haggis has several points to make, and he goes about making
them with a thick black marker: No one is immune from racism.
Perception is not always reality. It is as bad as you think. It's not
too late to change.
The black-white divide is further epitomized in the duality of each
character's actions. These people either learn from their mistakes,
or pay for their benevolent innocence. Transformations -- whether
it's an accidental shooting, the recognition of one's own racism, or a
close save in a life-or-death situation (of which there are several) --
are what successfully and satisfyingly give each plot thread closure.
In lesser hands the coincidences and storylines would seem
contrived, but Haggis and co-writer Bobby Moresco's evocative
dialogue and sturdy cast bring these characters to life. There isn't a
dull moment in the film, and there are more than a few that require
both nervous laughter and a shielding of the eyes. Though the film
has a tendency to accentuate the obvious in order to make a point
-- how many racial slurs do you say or hear each day? -- it all holds
together remarkably well.
Though the country has changed immeasurably since the dawn of
the Clinton era, it's clear we haven't progressed as a society as
much as we'd like to admit. "Crash" explores these strains credibly
and emotionally without ever relenting in its charge.
My grade: B+
Screened: May 4
To put it lightly, Todd Solondz's career has been built around
familial dysfunction. "Welcome to the Dollhouse," "Happiness," and
"Storytelling" aimed to show what was lurking under the skin of
suburbia, and more often than not it was a scab you'd wished was
never picked.
There were moments of brilliance in "Dollhouse," and "Happiness"
may very well be regarded as his masterpiece, but "Palindromes" is
a confusing -- albeit intriguing -- mess.
Aviva (a pre-teen girl played by 8 successive actors) is forced to get
an abortion by her well-meaning but ultimately selfish mother (Ellen
Barkin), only to run away and become involved in a murder plot
hatched by some hyper-fundamentalist Christians she meets on the
lam.
In a movie such as this, the question lurking in one's mind from
the opening frame is likely to be, "Is the director for or against
abortion?" Though Solondz points out deficiencies in both
positions, he ultimately decides -- like the pic's title implies -- that
we are products of fate that won't change no matter which side we're
viewed from.
More specifically, though, he shows pro-lifers in a much more
positive light than he does those in favor of abortion. When Aviva's
mother begins pressuring her to end the pregnancy at the film's
outset, she cites the high birth-defect rate for kids born to young
mothers as a key factor. But when Aviva's travels eventually take
her to Mama Sunshine (Debra Monk), a strict fundamentalist who's
adopted a dozen disfigured or developmentally-challenged children
to raise in a loving home, Solondz's aim seems off. Sure, the
group's constant Jesus talk is a little nuts, but Mama has
nonetheless opened her heart and home and provided the kids with
care and stability. (Perhaps to balance this uncharacteristic Solondz
joy, the woman's husband, unbeknownst to her, contracts a truck
driver to kill an abortion doctor.)
You can't fault the director for his lack of ideas. In using different
actors for the character of Aviva, he turns a gimmick into a vessel
for understanding the different shades of a seemingly passive
character. And even though the film as a whole doesn't always gel,
it raises enough eyebrows and elicits enough gasps to make it a
worthwhile investment.
My grade: B
Screened: May 12
