Crash (2004)
Composite Rating: 81.27
Starring: Don Cheadle, Sandra Bullock, Thandiwe Newton, Matt Dillon, Brendan Fraser, Jennifer Esposito, Terrence Howard, Ludacris, Michael Peña, Ryan Phillippe, and Shaun Toub
Director: Paul Haggis
Writers: Paul Haggis and Bobby Moresco
Genres: Crime, Drama, Thriller
MPAA Rating: R for language, sexual content, and some violence
Box Office: $98.41 million worldwide
Why should you Watch This Film?
Crash is one of those movies with a lot (and I do mean a LOT) of interconnecting storylines that weave a story dealing with issues of racism, class struggles, and police brutality. Some of the messages of Crash challenge the audience to approach other people differently and with more care. There is a clear encouragement to love our fellow humans that seems to permeate the film’s overlapping stories. In particular, the interaction of Michael Peña’s character Daniel with Shaun Toub’s Farhad leaves the watcher with a sense of optimism about humanity despite the improbable circumstances surrounding it. Crash also has an Oscar for Best Picture, which many people consider to be the highest praise the film community can bestow on a movie. The cast is also “stacked” with many big names delivering good performances of flawed characters, giving the film increased watchability.
Why shouldn’t you Watch This Film?
There are three main reasons to not watch this film. One is that it is only on this list due to Oscars controversy. Without its Best Picture win, Crash’s composite score would be only a 79.6, keeping it off the list. The reason this is something to be concerned about is that many believe that Crash should not have won at the 78th Academy Awards. It did not even receive a best picture nomination and had less box office success and critical acclaim than that year’s favorite Brokeback Mountain. Critics of the Academy Awards view Crash as an example of a “safe” Best Picture selection by Oscar voters who do not want to offend certain blocks of the viewing public.
The second, much more legitimate, reason to steer clear of Crash is its treatment of its minority characters. Ludacris portrays a stereotypically “angry black man” whose main characteristic is that he steals cars, but only from white people – a highly problematic character choice, even in 2004. Shaun Toub plays an Iranian immigrant who owns a bodega, speaks broken English, and assumes that everyone is trying to cheat him out of money – again, not a great look. Jennifer Esposito’s Ria is a Latina cop whose only real purpose in the film is to have sex with Don Cheadle’s character, “educate” him on the differences between different Latin American nationalities, and yell overtly racist things at an Asian woman – not an overly positive take on the Latina experience. Terrence Howard and Thandiwe Newton portray an upper-class black couple portrayed as very out of touch with their own “blackness” because of their privileged upbringings and social circles, which Terrence Howard then tries to buck by getting into a police chase and refusing to listen to police officers – I mean, come on!
The final issue, connected closely to the second, is that Crash does not seem to know what message it wants to communicate. Possible messages that I pulled from the film include: “Don’t be racist,” “Everyone’s a little bit racist,” “Race shouldn’t flavor all of our interactions,” “You don’t know what other people are going through, so if they seem racist, maybe it’s just because their life is hard,” “Even people who don’t want to be racist do racist things and sometimes those things are worse than what openly racist people do,” “Sometimes being poor creates similar hardships to being a minority, but the only poor white people in this movie are a racist cop and his dad, so good luck buying that,” or perhaps the most generous “We should be kind to everyone, regardless of their race or class or income or even how they treat us.” Those messages range from positive to problematic to flat-out contradictory, which is yet another reason why this film receives the hate it does in the film community. Every time it comes close to giving a real critique of classism or racism or police brutality it backtracks and tries to humanize the classists, racists, and corrupt police. This is not to deny that those people are in fact human, but doing so in the film serves the purpose of seemingly forgiving their bad actions, or at least normalizing them by making them seem just like everyone else.
So wait, why should you Watch This Film?
In all honesty, this is a very well-acted film. Problematic though the portrayals may be, every actor plays the role he or she is asked to play very well, with authentic emotion and solid delivery of the script. Matt Dillon’s performance as the racist cop is almost frighteningly believable, garnering him acting nominations at basically every major awards show. Thandiwe Newton’s and Don Cheadle’s performances also both received awards accolades, and deservedly so. Newton portrays hurt and frustration and trauma (again, problematic though it may be) so well. Cheadle delivers a subtle and complex performance as the detective at the center of the many interweaving stories that comprise Crash’s narrative.
For me though, the biggest reason to watch Crash is for Michael Peña. His character’s storyline and his wholesome portrayal of the character throughout are the biggest positives of the film. He plays Daniel, a locksmith who recently moved his family out of a dangerous (bullets coming through his daughter’s window) area into a lower-class suburban area. He is first introduced changing the locks at the Los Angeles D.A.’s house, serving as the object of fear and suspicion on the part of Sandra Bullock’s Jean, the wife of the D.A. While this introduction features some incredibly problematic stereotyping of Daniel and Latinos with tattoos in general by Jean, we soon see the individual that Daniel is. He is one of the only minority characters in the film that is not an aggressively negative stereotype of his race. Daniel is a good father and husband, forced to work wild hours to support his family, which is problematic in its own way, but not nearly as negative. His relationship with his daughter Maria is a particularly wholesome point in a film with an otherwise negative view of most human interaction.
To recap, Crash is a highly problematic Best Picture winner that is nonetheless good enough to be included in a list of the Greatest Films of All Time. Its portrayal of negative racial stereotypes and lack of strong messaging are balanced with strong acting, interesting story connections, and a positive portrayal on the part of Michael Peña. To be frank, it is worth watching once to see what the hype is about but does not warrant much revisiting, especially when there are so many better films with similar but stronger messaging and less problematic portrayals.
