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Crash [Blu-ray] by Paul Haggis
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Blu-ray detailsActor: Dato Bakhtadze, Don Cheadle, Karina Arroyave, Sandra Bullock, Thandie Newton Director: Paul Haggis Brand: Lions Gate Writer: Paul Haggis Producer: Andrew Reimer Producer: Betsy Danbury Producer: Bob Yari Producer: Cathy Schulman Producer: Dana Maksimovich Writer: Robert Moresco Blu-ray: Region Code 1 Audio: English (Subtitled); Spanish (Subtitled); English (Original Language) Format: Color, Dolby, Subtitled, Widescreen Picture Format: 2.35:1 Running Time: 112 minutes Blu-ray Release Date: 2006-06-27 Audience Rating: R (Restricted) Studio: Lions Gate
Blu-ray Reviews of Crash [Blu-ray]Blu-ray Review: Crash (2005) Summary: 1 Stars
Written and directed by Paul Haggis, this Best Picture-winner (an undeserving upset over Ang Lee's terrific Brokeback Mountain, a much more noteworthy allegory of human discrimination) drowns in its belligerent vanity and does so pitilessly, nearly pulling the well-intentioned genre -- self-romantic as it is here -- to the cooker with it. In its defense (a half-serious attempt at reconciliation for those who have mounted it as a "classic") it took a couple viewings for me to grow repelled by it -- to be honest, I, like most, was initially swept into acceptance of its audacity by its pinnacle moments -- but, even as soon as the opening frames of my first rehash, the musty stench of its arrogance engulfed me and I was again scooped by the product, this time ashamed at its malice and bewildered by its vindictive nature.
Structurally, Crash is a resounding example of unconformity (though its rearranged chronology is an ever-growing theme and its multi-focal yarn is an age-old cliche of priggish cinema, yet not always implemented by films of such). It is likely to become the template by which many subsequent mystery/thrillers are drawn, though that wouldn't be all that bad: it hooks its audience by immediately proposing a problem to which the answer comes together, piece-by-piece, as the story -- which jumps backwards, then proceeds in real-time, ending with its opening scene -- progresses. As we the audience travel alongside the film's event timeline, our attention is maintained thoroughly by its three climaxes, which are evenly distributed within the film's last half. Yet what is unrealized by a majority of viewers is that while their emotions have been forged and manipulated by these peaks, the movie's story -- and more specifically its script (co-penned by Bobby Moresco) -- runs amok in a cesspool of racially-directed propaganda, which is grossly mistaken for morally-motivated and "necessary" exposure to the cultural/ethnic differences that set aside and bring hardship to the diverse citizens of America (or, in this particular case, Los Angeles).
Crash is a textbook example of exploitation, presented with a slew of disgustingly (and abnormally) xenophobic characters, each of whom spit bigoted slurs as if they were the letters of the alphabet. Simply put, when it tries to address intolerance (which occurs with just about every interaction -- an unfortunate truth), it is smothered rather by its own impudence, which appears more political than it does substantial. In fact, Crash is packed so tight full of asinine stereotypes that, if it exploded into a million pieces, its fragments would have enough false piety in them to supply their own feature-length pictures. The film's self-importance swallows all of its positive qualities (which admittedly are not in short supply and include winning efforts by Don Cheadle, Matt Dillon, Terrence Howard, and Michael Pena) and amasses to an indigestible cinematic experience without the uplift of conciliatory sensitivity or social spotlighting, which it almost embarrassingly thinks it embodies (and forever will, thanks to its three Oscars and national acclaim).
More Crash [Blu-ray] reviews: 1 2 3
Description of Crash [Blu-ray]Studio: Lions Gate Home Ent. Release Date: 09/09/2008 Run time: 122 minutes Rating: R Movie studios, by and large, avoid controversial subjects like race the way you might avoid a hive of angry bees. So it's remarkable that Crash even got made; that it's a rich, intelligent, and moving exploration of the interlocking lives of a dozen Los Angeles residents--black, white, latino, Asian, and Persian--is downright amazing. A politically nervous district attorney (Brendan Fraser) and his high-strung wife (Sandra Bullock, biting into a welcome change of pace from Miss Congeniality) get car-jacked by an oddly sociological pair of young black men (Larenz Tate and Chris "Ludacris" Bridges); a rich black T.V. director (Terrence Howard) and his wife (Thandie Newton) get pulled over by a white racist cop (Matt Dillon) and his reluctant partner (Ryan Phillipe); a detective (Don Cheadle) and his Latina partner and lover (Jennifer Esposito) investigate a white cop who shot a black cop--these are only three of the interlocking stories that reach up and down class lines. Writer/director Paul Haggis (who wrote the screenplay for Million Dollar Baby) spins every character in unpredictable directions, refusing to let anyone sink into a stereotype. The cast--ranging from the famous names above to lesser-known but just as capable actors like Michael Pena (Buffalo Soldiers) and Loretta Devine (Woman Thou Art Loosed)--meets the strong script head-on, delivering galvanizing performances in short vignettes, brief glimpses that build with gut-wrenching force. This sort of multi-character mosaic is hard to pull off; Crash rivals such classics as Nashville and Short Cuts. A knockout. --Bret Fetzer
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