>critics have discussed a lot how the characters in Crash are
>caricatures that do not represent real people but we hear
>about some of the scenarios that are depicted in this film all
>the time in real life, by word of mouth, on the news or
>through personal experience. i'm not saying everyone should
>like the movie, i just haven't heard a very good argument
>explaining why the movie is horrible, that it's authenticity
>is lacking or that it is the worst movie of the year.

The scenarios were over-dramatized, but not to an overbearing degree. I thought that the characters and the interaction was interesting enough to make up for any lack of authenticity. Which I can't say for Brokeback Mountain or Million Dollar Baby.

I think one of the problems some people have with it is that, whether or not people like the characters in the movie really exist, showing so many in one movie...and giving every character enough airtime to justify their part...does not allow any of the characters to be shown far enough beyond a superficial level. In large part we are supposed to assume depth to each one of them. Just a necessary element of a film that has so many storylines.