Crash (I) (2004)

Los Angeles citizens with vastly separate lives collide in interweaving stories of race, loss and redemption.

Director:

Paul Haggis

Writers:

Paul Haggis (story), Paul Haggis (screenplay),

Stars:

Karina Arroyave, Sandra Bullock, Don Cheadle

Won 3 Oscars. Another 52 wins & 74 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Karina Arroyave	...	Elizabeth
Dato Bakhtadze	...	Lucien
Sandra Bullock	...	Jean Cabot
Don Cheadle	...	Det. Graham Waters
Art Chudabala	...	Ken Ho
Sean Cory	...	Motorcycle Cop
Tony Danza	...	Fred
Keith David	...	Lt. Dixon
Loretta Devine	...	Shaniqua Johnson
Matt Dillon	...	Officer John Ryan
Jennifer Esposito	...	Ria
Ime Etuk	...	Georgie (as Ime N. Etuk)
Eddie J. Fernandez	...	Officer Gomez (as Eddie Fernandez)
William Fichtner	...	Flanagan
Howard Fong	...	Store Owner

Storyline

Over a thirty-six hour period in Los Angeles, a handful of disparate people's lives intertwine as they deal with the tense race relations that belie life in the city. Among the players are: the Caucasian district attorney, who uses race as a political card; his Caucasian wife, who, having recently been carjacked by two black men, believes that her stereotypical views of non-whites is justified and cannot be considered racism; the two black carjackers who use their race both to their advantage and as an excuse; partnered Caucasian police constables, one who is a racist and uses his authority to harass non-whites, and the other who hates his partner because of those racist views, but who may have the same underlying values in his subconscious; a black film director and his black wife, who believes her husband doesn't support their black background enough, especially in light of an incident with the racist white cop; partnered police detectives and sometimes lovers, one Hispanic female ...

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Plot Keywords:

racist | police | partner | detective | locksmith | 

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Taglines:

Live your life at the point of impact

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Genres:

Drama

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for language, sexual content and some violence

Details

Official Sites:

Lions Gate Films [us] Official site [de]

Country:

USA Germany

Language:

English Persian Spanish Mandarin Korean

Release Date:

6 May 2005 (USA)

Also Known As:

Alto impacto

Filming Locations:

3500 S. Gaffey Street, San Pedro, Los Angeles, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$6,500,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$95,541 (Hong Kong) (23 June 2006)

Gross:

$230,508 (Hong Kong) (7 July 2006)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Bob Yari Productions, DEJ Productions, Blackfriars Bridge Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

112 min 115 min (director's cut)

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Make-up artists aged Shaun Toub by about 15 years.

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Goofs

In the part where Officers Ryan and Hanson pull Cameron and Christine over, towards the end of the scene when Officer Ryan walks back to the driver side, a shot is seen of him entering the vehicle. When a later, wider shot takes place, Officer Ryan is seen leaning inside the vehicle from outside, and then opening the door and entering the police car.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Graham: It's the sense of touch. In any real city, you walk, you know? You brush past people, people bump into you. In L.A., nobody touches you. We're always behind this metal and glass. I think we miss that touch so much, that we crash into each other, just so we can feel something.

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Crazy Credits

The film's title isn't shown until all of the opening credits are completed.

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Connections

Referenced in The Jay Leno Show: Episode #1.27 (2009)

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Soundtracks

"Maybe Tomorrow"
(2003)
Written by Kelly Jones, Richard Jones (as Richard Mark Jones), Stuart Cable
Published by Universal-Polygram Int. Publ., Inc. on behalf of Sterophonics Music Ltd (ASCAP)
Performed by Stereophonics
Courtesy of V2 Records

User Reviews

Such A Fine Line Between Oscar and Lifetime Channel Movie...

While this film was well done, I am stunned at both the average voter rating on IMDb and it earning the Best Film for 2005. This is a 'tidy' account of racial conditions in the USA, but no more cutting edge than the content found in any 'All In The Family' sitcom from the 70s. There is little character development, with each being one-dimensional regarding their personal discriminations. If this film is supposed to deliver a message, it was lost in my viewing. It appeared that every character's racial subjectivity was influenced and primarily based on the most recent event with that race. In my opinion, racial conditions have improved and evolved in our country further than this film suggests. Personal discriminations in the film are not subtle and are stereotypical to a fault. It was void of subtleties and wit that truly represent an individual's approach and reaction in real life. Comparing this to the other nominees this year, I wonder what criteria the voters based their vote upon to select Crash as the winner. This would be a 'surf-through' movie if you passed over it on the Lifetime Channel (only A-list cameo appearances save it from this deserved placement). This is a 'one-watch' movie and will likely date itself quickly. I am sure the idea for the film came out of a graduate student's thesis and would work well in stage form with an ethnic cross-section of serious undergraduate drama majors.