Crash ★★★½ 2005 (R) From the writer behind "Million Dollar Baby" comes this racially charged ensemble piece, which follows numerous lives intersecting over a 36-hour period in the volatile melting pot of L.A. Opening with a car-jacking, a central event that connects most of the characters, Haggis' drama meditates on the levels of class conflict between cops, criminals, showbiz types, and various ethnic and racial groups. Gets a bit preachy at times, but the cast is so uniformly strong and the characters are so multi-layered, you won't care. Cheadle, as always, stands out, but even the ensemble's typically bland Hollywood actors (Bullock, Fraser, Phillippe) acquit themselves nicely. No David Cronenberg car fetishes here. 100m/C DVD. US Ludacris, Sandra Bullock, Don Cheadle, Matt Dillon, Jennifer Esposito, William Fichtner, Brendan Fraser, Terrence DaShon Howard, Thandie Newton, Ryan Phillippe, Larenz Tate, Nona Gaye, Michael Pena, Tony Danza, Keith David, Daniel Dae Kim, Shaun Toub, Loretta Devine;
Director:
Paul Haggis;
Writer:
Paul Haggis, Robert Moresco;
Writer:
James Muro;
Cameo:
Mark Isham.
