This film is well-acted, but otherwise quite overrated.

In a desperate attempt not to be misconstrued, Crash's storyline ends up feeling quite forced. In order to prove its thesis that racism comes in all forms, it includes far too many strands to deliver any meaningful character development. The fact that these plots must all then intertwine causes the characters themselves to feel more like cogs in a machine than in control of their own destiny.

As a viewer, one must suspend disbelief for the duration, and that achieves the opposite effect I suspect the director intended...distancing the viewer from the characters rather than enabling us to relate closely and examine our own prejudices.

A film entirely about prejudice and consequence, it delves a lot deeper than I thought it would, as I – prejudiced as I was – had heard a lot about it, mainly critique saying that even though the film’s made to make people question their own readymade ideas that aren’t based on rational thinking, that’s exactly what it did. I’ll happily say I think those critics are wrong. In my opinion, the film points out prejudice in the viewer and yes, I’m one of the persons who thinks everybody is prejudiced about a lot of things, even though some of us may be scared to admit it at first. This film is a good step towards realising this, by plainly showing how racism, nationalism and other isms play a daily role in our lives. Fast-paced, catchy, horrible and funny, I strongly recommend it.

We saw this on a High School field trip of sorts, and all 100 something of us enjoyed it.  The movie is very thought-provoking and extremely well presented.

Great review below. . .good film, but there are plot contrivances that are really, really, tough to swallow.  You want to root for the film to be good (and at times it is) but then you see it fall back into sentimental and safe territory.  It wants to be edgier than it is.  And then there's that creepy feeling of a self-important film- the big orchestra music at the nexus of all the characters. . .so close. . .slick production that almost hits on all cylinders.

I feel like Crash just missed being awesome.  The vision for the movie seems to be to try and present racial tension in more realistic ways.  As opposed to just good guys and bad guys, the good guys do bad things, and the bad guys do good things.

There are some riveting scenes in this movie.  The scene in which racist cop Matt Dillon tries to pull the black woman out of a car wreck who had molested several days earlier during a traffic violation was tough to handle.

But as the scene above suggests, this movie requires a LOT of suspending of disbelief.  In fact, there are scenes that are even more farfetched than this one.   These scenes are well acted, but just too hard to believe, so the movie loses a little bit of the credibility that a more realistic film might have delivered.

Despite these flaws, Crash is worth seeing for the tension and the acting.

In high school most people in the United States have been taught that America is no longer a melting pot where different ethnicities are assimilated into one homogenous mix, but a tossed salad where people keep their differences from their ethnic backgrounds. The ethnic background includes aspects such as race, linguistics, religion, and culture. This knowledge frequently drifts into some unused part of the brain, as it slowly moves into oblivion. Nonetheless, the ethnic differences between people continue to exist in the United States, as people work and handle their personal matters on a daily basis. Crash tells a story of people from all parts of the world, as African-Americans, Asians, Caucasians, Hispanics, and Middle Easterners move through life and occasionally bump into each other by accident, a crash if you will. Through daily interaction people accidentally connect with each other where stereotypes and generalizations are made based on assumptions from the brief incidents, previous events, and hearsay. This is often the result of simplified deduction, which could be colored by emotion and bias. The skewed perception of people with different ethnicity could also stem from appearance, gender, and the socioeconomic status of the observer and the observed. Paul Haggis directs several interesting characters from all walks of life such as police officers, criminals, locksmiths, storeowners, and TV directors. Some are caring while others neglect those around them. They have one thing in common with each other - no one is alike. Instead of playing the card of racism in a black and white manner, Haggis cleverly intertwines all of the characters through a truly genuine approach. The origin of intolerance is being dissected through the camera that depicts the characters' behavior while also displaying the source of the behavior. Through the characters Haggis displays different emotions such as fear, anger, hatred, and love. These different emotions are expressed in different manners, as interactions between the characters accidentally appear. Some times the observed feelings are subtle, as when Jean (Sandra Bullock) in fear grabs Rick's (Brendan Fraser) arm while Anthony (Ludacris) and Peter (Larenz Tate) walk by them, which is even mentioned by Anthony. Another more overt example is when Farhad (Shaun Toub) speaks in Farsi to his daughter at a gun store in Persian, as the gun store manager throws out prejudicial comments toward Farhad

Crash has a lot going for it-excellent acting (excepting only Brandon 'Encino Man' Fraser), cinematography, dialogue and serious subject matter, among other things. Crash could have been a great movie, except for two flaws. First: most movies require suspension of disbelief at some point or other. Crash, however, goes beyond disbelief and into complete fantasy, gradually veering into a parallel universe where ruthless carjackers redeem themselves...by freeing Cambodian slaves...while a murderous vigilante Iranian storekeeper...hunts down a Hispanic repairman...nearly kills his angelic daughter....giant pigs fly across the screen....And everyone lives happily ever after. Second flaw: Crash's cartoonish presentation of racism, filled with bigot 'strawmen' and pseudo-religious epiphanies. Watching this movie, you would never know that LA's stupid, decadent, and apparently suicidal elite has done everything imaginable in the last 30 years to turn their city into a war zone: teach kids not that they are not citizens of a single nation, but belong to unique ethnic groups with long histories of oppression and collective grievances; destroy the public school system and allow the infrastructure to collapse; buy off a wealthy black 'overclass' with unique educational and occupational privileges, not to mention possible amnesty should they commit double first-degree murder (OJ); import as many Mexicans as possible to compete with poor blacks for the same crap jobs and slum/public housing; rely on a combination of rent-a-thug mercenaries and an under-manned, corrupt police force that leave entire neighborhoods of the city under the control of vicious street gangs [instead of creating an effective police force like NYC]; drive the cost of housing up to Manhattan levels, so that the few remaining middle-class families and businesses leave the city, leaving only an explosive combination of super-rich and poor; finally, lecture everyone on their lack of racial sensitivity. Crash.

My husband, 17 yr.old son and I all enjoyed this movie. Very powerful message. Worth your time

I rented this movie, knowing that everyone thought it was amazing. I didn't exactly know what to expect from it. The story took awhile for me to understand. It was a little hard to follow at times, but there were some very touching scenes, and good emotion protrayed by the actors. Good all around cast, and decent plot. I'm not really focusing on the 84+ "F" words that were used throughout the movie however.

The best movie made in a long time! Harsh reality. The first movie that ever had an effect on my life! I now notice and am aware of the racism around me...even the little comments one hears...i pick up on it. A must see!! I urge everyone to watch it.

A 4.5. an in your face movie about the horrors of racism.Does not hold back on the predice that is present amongst all races.Takes place over two days in a big city.I like that this movie does not try and soft coat the racial prejudices that are present in the USA. One of those movies that really make you think.

This movie is about as good as they get. Very important for people to watch. Prejiduce is as alive today as it has ever been folks.

One hell of a movie.

this is my favorite movie of all times and i think its safe to say this is the best movie in history. You can't find a drama that deals with all kinds of races and how they ineract with eachother. its also a heartmoving film that will have u askin all kinds of questions when u leave the theater. very good perfomances by ludacris ryan phillpe,terrance howard. it mad me mad when i saw what matt dillion did to that black girl but he still had a nice perfomance.

once again i find myself defending a movie to all my friends which i loved and they didn't. my only problem with the movie is that the title and cover imply an action-type movie, when the film was really more of a thinker. other than that, i thought it was superbly written and directed. it's hard to follow all the differnet sub-plots, but that's the beauty of it; the subtlties that tie all of the stories together. i really like the fact that it's not skewed toward a specific race. it shows the very present condition of all races judging all other races with their own preconcieved prejudices, even sometimes subconciously. but at the same time, even the seemingly most racist character in the movie (Matt Dillan) has somewhat of a defendable position, due to the situation of his father-- as do the other characters due to their life situations. a brilliant film from all sides.

Amazing, dramatic story about several different people all with different ethnicities, backgrounds, and life styles. Excellent performances by everyone. This movie gives a powerful message of the current realities of racism in America. A must see all the way!