Crash (2004 film)
| Crash | |
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| File:Crash NTSC DVD.jpg | |
| Directed by | Paul Haggis B. Reeves Eason |
| Written by | Paul Haggis (story) Robert Moresco & Paul Haggis (screenplay) |
| Produced by | Paul Haggis & Barney A. Sarecky |
| Starring | Sandra Bullock Don Cheadle Matt Dillon Jennifer Esposito Brendan Fraser Chris "Ludacris" Bridges Terrence Howard |
| Cinematography | James Muro Dana Gonzales |
| Edited by | Hughes Winborne |
| Music by | Mark Isham Shani Rigsbee |
| Distributed by | Lions Gate Films |
Release dates | May 6, 2005 (USA) |
Running time | 113 min. |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $6.5 million |
Crash is an Academy Award-winning 2004 drama film directed by Paul Haggis. It premiered at the Toronto Film Festival in September 2004, and was released internationally in 2005. The film is a commentary on racial and social tensions in Los Angeles. It won the Oscar for Best Picture of 2005 at the 78th annual Academy Awards.
Crash was a critical and box-office success in the early summer of 2005. The film's budget was $6.5 million (plus $1 million in financing). Because of the financial constraints, director Haggis filmed in his own house, borrowed a set from the TV show Monk, used his car in parts of the film, and even used cars from other staff members. It grossed $53.4 million domestically, making back more than eight times its budget.
Chicago Sun-Times film critic Roger Ebert named Crash the best film of 2005 [1]. LA Weekly critic Scott Foundas named it the worst film of the year, touching off a debate with Ebert [2]
The film was nominated for six Oscars, and won three of them. It was nominated for two Golden Globe Awards: one for Best Supporting Actor (Matt Dillon) and the other for Best Screenplay (Paul Haggis and Robert Moresco). Other awards include Best Ensemble Cast at the 2005 Screen Actors Guild Awards and best screenplay at the Critics' Choice Awards.
Plot summary
The film depicts several characters and brings them together through car accidents, shootings, and carjackings. Most of the characters depicted in the film are racially prejudiced in some way, and become involved in conflicts which force them to examine their own prejudices. Through these characters' interactions, the film attempts to show that racism is common in modern America.
Cast of characters
Crash features an ensemble cast:
- Rick (Brendan Fraser) is the white Democratic district attorney of Los Angeles. He and his wife Jean were carjacked by Anthony and Peter, and he spends the movie trying to save his political career by persuading voters into believing that he is racially sensitive. Although seemingly a hypocritical character at first, it is important to note that nowhere in the movie does his character show a side of bigotry, and the argument can be made that he is in fact racially sensitive.
- Jean (Sandra Bullock) is Rick's white wife, whose racial prejudices escalate after the carjacking. At the end of the film, following an accident in her home, she realizes that the person who is nicest and most helpful to her is Maria, her Hispanic maid.
- Anthony (Chris "Ludacris" Bridges) is a black petty crook who sells stolen cars to a corrupt business. While he believes that society is unfairly biased against blacks, his actions conflict with his observations. When Anthony and his partner fail to steal Cameron's car and he's pulled along while Peter escapes, he escapes arrest when Cameron focuses the attention on himself. When he is told that "You embarass me, you embarass yourself", Anthony realizes his hypocrisy.
- Peter (Larenz Tate) is Anthony's partner in crime (black), who scoffs at Anthony's paranoia. Peter is killed by a white cop who picks him up in the valley hours after their failed carjacking, who mistakenly shoots him after assuming he is drawing a gun, when in reality he was reaching into his pocket to show the cop a figure of Saint Christopher.
- Graham (Don Cheadle) is Peter's brother, and a detective in the Los Angeles Police Department. He is disconnected from his poor family. He promises his mother that he would find his younger brother, but is preoccupied with a case concerning a racist white cop who shot a possibly corrupt black cop. Flanagan offers him a furthering of his career and a clearing of his brother's record, for leaving out what is controversial evidence. Graham, offended and opposed at first, is convinced with some incredibly persuasive arguments for affirmative action in a private conversation with Flanagan. In the end he makes a very tough decision to leave out the information, putting a possible innocent man behind bars, although important to note, that the man in question had just barely gotten off two previous race related shootings as well.
- Flanagan (William Fichtner) is an aide to Rick who talks Graham into accepting a corrupt deal, by arguing in strong favor of affirmative action. The corrupt deal outlined by Flanagan was that of furthering of his career, and the clearing of his brother's charges. Although the deal is corrupt, Flanagan plays a small but incredibly important role for the discussion of the theme on positive discrimination, and takes a moral highground to justify his actions. In the end he leaves the decision up to Graham by suggesting that "you're the closest to all of this, you tell us what needs to be done!" (paraphrased), to suggest that maybe enough substantive inequality in a systematicly equal society, is justification for the actions taken.
- Ria (Jennifer Esposito) is a Latina detective and Graham's girlfriend.
- Officer Ryan (Matt Dillon) is a white police officer who molests Christine, a black woman, during a traffic stop. This causes his partner, Officer Hanson, to realize his partner's racist tendencies. Ryan is also trying to get help for his father, who may possibly have prostate cancer but misdiagnosed with a bladder infection. Ryan makes offensive remarks to a black insurance representative, but goes on to save the life of Christine, whom he previously sexually harassed. His racial prejudices stem from his father building a company that mainly hired blacks and paid equal wages, but blindsighted affirmative action led to contracts being made with minority owned companies in priority. His father lost his wife, job, and company, and Ryan can't help but feel contempt for black americans.
- Cameron (Terrence Howard) is a black television director who becomes distraught after witnessing Officer Ryan molesting his wife as well as the integrity of his identity, forced into a role of tokenism. In an emotional moment, he fights off Anthony and Peter when they try to steal his car, takes away Anthony's gun, and gets gets himself into a harsh argument with armed white police officers, no longer afraid of losing his Uncle Tom image. When it is very likely that he will be shot to death, his life is saved by Officer Hanson.
- Christine (Thandie Newton) is Cameron's wife. She is molested by Officer Ryan after she and Cameron are pulled over. She becomes very angry with her husband because he does not act while she is being molested, and the next day is trapped in an overturned car due to a highway accident. Her life is saved by Officer Ryan, the very man who molested her.
- Officer Hanson (Ryan Phillippe) is Officer Ryan's partner who is disgusted by his partner's racism and the city's inaction. After trying to get another partner after seeing Ryan molest Christine, Hanson accepts a solo patrol vehicle. Hanson saves Cameron during his confrontation with the police, yet shoots Peter when Peter reaches for a statue of Saint Christopher in his car after picking him up and giving him a ride. His reaction was most likely influenced by his earlier encounter with Cameron.
- Daniel (Michael Peña) is a Mexican-American locksmith who faces discrimination from Jean and others because he looks like a "gangbanger" (has tattoos, shaved head) to them, when actually, he is a devoted family man. He is seeking a safe environment for his young daughter, who had her window shot up in their previous home. That is why he moved to a safe neighborhood and enrolled her into a private school. He and his daughter are shot by Farhad but did not get hurt because the bullets were blanks.
- Farhad (Shaun Toub) is a Persian store owner who is afraid for his safety. He is depicted as a man frustrated by the racial harassment he experiences in the United States as well as deterred with difficulties with speaking English. Blaming Daniel for the invasion and racially-motivated destruction of his store, he confronts him at his house and is about to fire a gun at him. Daniel's daughter wears a "special" jacket that, her father has told her, was impenetrable and thus will protect her from bullets. She runs to protect him. Farhad means to shoot at Daniel but accidently shoots at his daughter in front of him. However, unknown to Farhed and Daniel, it is a blank. The fact that the daughter is not hurt is a great relief, also for Farhad, who thinks an angel intervened, and he leaves without further attacking Daniel.
Other cast members
- Fred (Tony Danza)
- Lt. Dixon (Keith David)
- Shaniqua Johnson (Loretta Devine)
- Shereen (Marina Sirtis)
- Dorri (Bahar Soomekh)
- Karen (Nona Gaye)
Oscar nominations/awards
Crash has been nominated for six awards in the 78th Academy Awards (2006). Although released two years earlier, it did not qualify for the 77th Academy Awards as it did not play at least one week in L.A. in 2004 as Academy Award rules require. It did not open in L.A. until the following year, thus the film qualified for the 78th Oscars.
Crash beat out the heavily favored Brokeback Mountain to garner the coveted Best Picture award, and also recieved the awards for Best Original Screenplay and Film Editing.
Awards
- 2005 Academy Award Best Picture
- Writing (Original Screenplay) - Paul Haggis and Bobby Moresco
- Film Editing - Hughes Winborne
Nominations
- Best Actor in a Supporting Role - Matt Dillon
- Directing - Paul Haggis
- Best Song - Kathleen York and Michael Becker (for "In the Deep")
Trivia
- Crash contains more foul language than any other film nominated for the best picture Oscar over the last five years with 182 expletives, 99 of which start with f, according to a report by Family Media Guide. [3]