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Red Eye Rundown
Stupendously brilliantly fantastically excellently awesome!
Why not try Changing Lanes, Magnolia, American History X, Million Dollar Baby
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Reviewed by Jo Pettitt Brilliantly gritty, subtly complex, unrelentingly well crafted. Unless you haven't guessed yet, I loved this film. Paul Haggis has in my humble opinion commandeered a masterpiece in Crash that thoroughly deserves the various accolades that it received. He cleverly reflects the chaos and uncertainty of the plot and the environments he places his characters in with clever wide sweeping shots followed by deliberately uncomfortable and disjointed camera angles. See the car accident scene near the end for a good example. The soundtrack is very solid - there is one particular haunting piece of music that appears several times throughout the film with excellent effect, re-emphasising the sense of repetition in the film - there is a message here, this is not one unusual day in America, this is a snap shot of EVERY day in America's multi-cultural metropolis.
There is no question that the impact the film had on me was largely due to some excellent individual performances. Matt Dillon, Ryan Phillippe and Terrence Howard were all fantastic. However the two stand out performances for me were Michael Pena who plays Daniel the Mexican locksmith with unparalleled honesty, and (I can't believe I'm saying this) Chris 'Ludacris' Bridges, the hip-hop artist turned actor, who puts in a first class appearance as Anthony, the philosophising gangster. Combine the ensemble cast list with a script as powerful as this and you have yourself a winning formula. That Haggis went on to enjoy equal if not greater success with Million Dollar Baby is of no surprise after you have seen Crash. Interestingly, Crash has come under some fairly heavy scrutiny and had its fair share of criticism, with many claiming that it says nothing more than "Racism Is Bad" whilst the script forces a moral message down your throat from opening scene to closing credits. Personally, I think that people are missing the real emphasis on the film though - for every example of blatant, stark racism, there are 2 examples of the most subtle forms of prejudice and bigotry. Sometimes it is as deft as a look, or how a line is delivered, or a slight turn of phrase. Haggis is simply making a comment about what he has seen happening; of course I enjoy hindsight writing this review 2 years after release, but anyone who saw the treatment of the New Orleans' evacuees after Hurricane Rita can sympathise with the message he is sending. If I had any criticisms of the film, and trust me I'm reaching here, it is that Haggis has not managed to tread any desperately new ground. The concept of individual characters and storylines that all interweave and co-operate with each other is not a new one. See Changing Lanes (2002) for an excellent example of that. The issue of race has also been explored in plenty of films before and since, although I would argue that here it is approached in a slightly different manner. To wrap up - see this film. Directorial influence, screenplay, dialogue, script, individual and ensemble performances supported by a superb soundtrack make this an immensely powerful film. Don't miss out!! People
Directed by: Paul Haggis
Written by: Paul Haggis, Robert Moresco Starring: Don Cheadle, Sandra Bullock, Matt Dillon, Ryan Phillippe, Larenz Tate, Brendan Fraser, Terrence Howard, Thandie Newton, Michael Peña, Jennifer Esposito, Chris 'Ludacris' Bridges, Shaun Toub Genre Information Production Information Produced in: USA
Language: English Release Information Released: 2005
UK cinema: 12/08/2005 US cinema: 06/05/2005 UK DVD: 05/12/2005 US DVD: 06/09/2005 |
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