Crash (Paul Haggis)

[kasper11 1]

Here's the deal...there are very, very few Best Picture winners that are this bad, if any.

 

This movie is supposed to be about the subtleties of racism and how it affects most of us without our even realizing it...except that there was absolutely no subtlety in this movie. Every character practically screamed "I'm Racist".

 

We have Sandra Bullock, Matt Dillon, Don Cheadle, Tony Danza, Brendan Frasier, Ryan Phillipe all giving awesomely bad performances of terrible dialogue.

[forestwhitakerseyes 0]

Seconded.

 

Such a bad movie.

But I think we all know how it was made;

 

Someone had 8 scenes left over from completely different movies and then jumbled them up because they thought that people are dumb enough to pay to see that. And they were right because it won an oscar.

[imhatch 271]

wow guys i think your thetan levels are super high maybe you should come take this cool personality test with me to see if i can make you happy like i am and paul haggis used to be

[PlanBFromOuterSpace 3138]

While the movie overall had an After School Special vibe to it, the thing that bugged me most was that the ONLY thing anyone seems to be talking about in the film is race. They weren't real people having real conversations at all, because no matter how a conversation started, it turned to that and then people yelling at each other.

 

"What should we have for dinner?"

"Does it matter?!?!? You're ashamed to tell your mother you're sleeping with a Hispanic woman!"

 

"Who's picking up the kids from school today?"

"I don't know, but all black people are carjackers!"

 

I might be exaggerating, but not by much.

[seanotron 2307]

The funny thing with movies like this that are trying SO hard to be anti-racism is that they usually end up being super racist in some way.

[PlanBFromOuterSpace 3138]

The funny thing with movies like this that are trying SO hard to be anti-racism is that they usually end up being super racist in some way.

It's like "'I'm Not Racist, But...': The Movie".

[PlanBFromOuterSpace 3138]

I also just remembered that it seemed like when anything interesting happened in any particular arc, that story would just end and we'd never see or hear from the characters ever again. For instance, Matt Dillon's a total prick towards the beginning, but then he has this "holy shit" moment when saving Thandie Newton from the crash when he realizes that she would almost rather DIE than be saved by this guy that traumatized her early on, and it seems like this changes him a little or that he's going to re-think his ways. That would have been interesting to see, but instead, his story is dropped entirely. Speaking of that, we don't really see Newton after this either and how it affected her, do we? Yeah, the movie's full of that.

[seanotron 2307]

I also just remembered that it seemed like when anything interesting happened in any particular arc, that story would just end and we'd never see or hear from the characters ever again. For instance, Matt Dillon's a total prick towards the beginning, but then he has this "holy shit" moment when saving Thandie Newton from the crash when he realizes that she would almost rather DIE than be saved by this guy that traumatized her early on, and it seems like this changes him a little or that he's going to re-think his ways. That would have been interesting to see, but instead, his story is dropped entirely. Speaking of that, we don't really see Newton after this either and how it affected her, do we? Yeah, the movie's full of that.

 

Well, not speaking in defense of the movie but in defense of the...idea, as it were, I think they were trying to avoid tying anything up in a nice little bow and were basically saying, 'This happens all the time and there's no easy fix for it.' It's clumsy and awkward in execution but in theory I get the concept.

[PlanBFromOuterSpace 3138]

 

Well, not speaking in defense of the movie but in defense of the...idea, as it were, I think they were trying to avoid tying anything up in a nice little bow and were basically saying, 'This happens all the time and there's no easy fix for it.' It's clumsy and awkward in execution but in theory I get the concept.

I get that, but like you said, the execution was pretty terrible. There's a biiiiiig difference between a) leaving things open for the viewer and pulling the plug on a storyline JUST as it's getting interesting. In this film, we see everyone acting like assholes until something happens that makes them question their assholishness, and then they disappear. It's almost like one continuous feature-length second act. And then the climax of the film is one of maybe three of the genuinely decent people in the movie going completely off the rails and doing something so out-of-left-field for no other reason than EVERYONE in this movie has to suffer.

 

Speaking of which, I remember watching the Oscars that year, and there was some sort of interpretive dance performance set to the nominees for best picture, and this one had people all covered in ash or something coming out of the wreckage with the burnt car and everything. All I could think was "It sure is nice that 'Land of the Dead' is getting recognized by the Academy, even if it IS just for Best Original Song...wait, what?".

[sillstaw 414]

I'd dispute that this is the only "bad" Best Picture winner (I hate "The Artist" and "Slumdog Millionaire," and then you have older winners almost nobody remembers like "Around the World in 80 Days" or "The Greatest Show on Earth"), but this is definitely one of the few movies where, when it won, the backlash could be seen from Alpha Centauri.

 

I think the ridiculous nature of the movie was best summed up when someone on a forum I used to frequent joked that it taught valuable lessons, "like how falling down the stairs can cure racism."

[PlanBFromOuterSpace 3138]

Even "Chicago", which I despised, wasn't BAD, it was just a horrible, horrible choice for Best Picture. It was fifteen minutes of story stretched out to two hours but very well done on a technical level, so it at least deserves to be remembered for that, but I don't think "Crash" would really be remembered AT ALL if it hadn't won, because aside from the PSA-ishness of it's message, it looks and feels very by-the-numbers.

[Ghost of HST 71]

This movie really pissed me off too...especially since it seemed like a poor revamping of Amores Perros...or a pathetic stab at Short Cuts or any PT Anderson film. Would love to hate watch it again... (Also agreed about The Artist and Slumdog.)

[imhatch 271]

now that im thinking about it this much This Is A Bad Movie

[TonyPSU7 2]

I can't tell you how much I hate this movie. It is so overly dramatic. It's predictable. Every character is a cariciture of racial stereotypes. What pisses me off most about the movie is that the audience is supposed to forgive Matt Dillon's character for being a bigot, not to mention a rapist, simply because he pulled his rape victim out of a burning car. He's a police officer! It's his job! The only people who think Crash is a feel good movie is racists who want to believe that one good deed towards a person of another race excuses them from a lifetime of bigotry.

[PlanBFromOuterSpace 3138]

I can't tell you how much I hate this movie. It is so overly dramatic. It's predictable. Every character is a cariciture of racial stereotypes. What pisses me off most about the movie is that the audience is supposed to forgive Matt Dillon's character for being a bigot, not to mention a rapist, simply because he pulled his rape victim out of a burning car. He's a police officer! It's his job! The only people who think Crash is a feel good movie is racists who want to believe that one good deed towards a person of another race excuses them from a lifetime of bigotry.

To be fair though, I DO think there was that moment where a light bulb goes off in Dillon's head, where he realizes that he's an even bigger asshole than he thinks and sees the effect it has on Thandie Newton, who would almost rather burn to death than be touched by him, but again, NOTHING comes of it because the movie forgets he exists after that. In a movie that's almost 100% free of subtlety, this may be a total fluke, more in the performances than in the writing, and it certainly would have been more effective in a movie that was actually concerned with seeing where that particular story went.

 

This movie reminds me of those "Truth" ads. Anyone remember those from a few years back, those really obnoxious anti-smoking commercials where they'd use shock tactics to really hammer home how bad the effects of cigarettes are? I'm not a smoker, never have been, but the way these assholes went about spreading their message made me want to light up just to spite them, which is really the opposite of what they were hoping to accomplish. OK, maybe "Crash" isn't QUITE like that, because I didn't feel the urge to go out and commit a hate crime or anything like that...

[Lando 2019]

Even "Chicago", which I despised, wasn't BAD, it was just a horrible, horrible choice for Best Picture. It was fifteen minutes of story stretched out to two hours

 

Isn't that just about every musical ever?

[Lando 2019]

This movie reminds me of those "Truth" ads. Anyone remember those from a few years back, those really obnoxious anti-smoking commercials where they'd use shock tactics to really hammer home how bad the effects of cigarettes are? I'm not a smoker, never have been, but the way these assholes went about spreading their message made me want to light up just to spite them, which is really the opposite of what they were hoping to accomplish. OK, maybe "Crash" isn't QUITE like that, because I didn't feel the urge to go out and commit a hate crime or anything like that...

 

Oh my god yes! I hated those commercials. I always thought that they were a subversive attempt at increasing smoking via spite.

[PlanBFromOuterSpace 3138]

 

Isn't that just about every musical ever?

More or less, yeah, but most of them (at least not in this day and age) don't find themselves under a pile of awards when all is said and done. "Les Mis" certainly tried to follow in those footsteps. I think some musicals are fine, but there are some where instead of incorporating the song into the story, they just use them as an excuse to take 10 minutes to spell out exactly what just happened or what's going to happen in the movie. That's when it just seems like padding and when I really start to think "Wow, there really isn't much to the story".

[PhillipMedoc 648]

"'I'm Not Racist, But...'

Which is obviously the worst way to begin a sentence, although next in line is "As a responsible parent, I...". You may also substitute "dog owner" for "parent".

 

I can't believe you people all watched Crash! WHAT WERE YOU THINKING? Seriously, the only thing I remember about this film is Ang Lee's face when Brokeback was robbed. I mean, my mother was upset about that one.

 

I think some musicals are fine, but there are some where instead of incorporating the song into the story, they just use them as an excuse to take 10 minutes to spell out exactly what just happened or what's going to happen in the movie.

Rodgers and Hammerstein were the originators and masters of using songs to advance the story. Nowadays you get stuff like Chicago or even worse, Moulin Rouge, where you just stop every ten minutes for a mostly irrelevant song and then they sell millions of the soundtrack.

 

Then there's shit like Mamma Mia.

[seanotron 2307]

Hey now, let's not smear Moulin Rouge by comparing it to Chicago. MR is fantastic.

[inactiveuser501 168]

Okay, let me be the first one to say it *deep breath*

 

I thought that Crash was a wonderful movie.

 

It did keep me engrossed in the plot and I did find some of the emotional plots very pleasing and not that predictable (Totally did not expect Thandie Newton to be in that car wreck) And in my most shameful admission, I did cry when the Middle Eastern guy confronted the Latino guy and his daughter with the gun. I'm ashamed of it, but I loved this movie.

 

With that being said, it is not the greatest movie ever (I could talk forever on the insanity in Sandra Bullock's performance), and I do believe that the Academy Awards did this movie no favors by nominating this movie at all. I genuinely think that the only reason people hate this movie is either because it beat Brokeback Mountain or that it was nominated at all. Crash's legacy should've been a Golden Globe Nominee at best, not the full Best Picture win.

[PlanBFromOuterSpace 3138]

 

I can't believe you people all watched Crash! WHAT WERE YOU THINKING? Seriously, the only thing I remember about this film is Ang Lee's face when Brokeback was robbed. I mean, my mother was upset about that one.

 

 

Your mom's not homophobic, but...

[Quasar Sniffer 4174]

Pretty much. Though, I think Matt Dillon's character might be the only interesting part of this movie; he commits some unforgivable acts, but at least he's worth watching in a movie. Those not-terrible things might or might not make up for the terrible things, but his nature is defined purely be one or the other.... like all the other characters.

 

In any case, this movie is a piece of shit and might very well be the worst Best Picture winner. I could definitely listen to an hour of A+ comedians making fun of it.

[wakefresh 689]

I also just remembered that it seemed like when anything interesting happened in any particular arc, that story would just end and we'd never see or hear from the characters ever again. For instance, Matt Dillon's a total prick towards the beginning, but then he has this "holy shit" moment when saving Thandie Newton from the crash when he realizes that she would almost rather DIE than be saved by this guy that traumatized her early on, and it seems like this changes him a little or that he's going to re-think his ways. That would have been interesting to see, but instead, his story is dropped entirely. Speaking of that, we don't really see Newton after this either and how it affected her, do we? Yeah, the movie's full of that.

 

If there was any justice to this movie, Matt Dillion's character would have been shot to death by Luda's character.