>(courtesy of my blog from my MySpace page)
>It's not like I've ever been that crazy about any film that
>received Best Picture at the Oscars, or even that disgusted
>for that matter. But when I heard that Crash won for Best
>Picture while I was driving home last night, I could've
>punched someone had they been sitting next to me.
>
>I know that this is the movie that everyone loves, but I had
>issues with the film on so many levels. But before I unleash
>on the film. I will share the few positive attributes this
>film had. I will admit that there were some good performances
>throughout the film, the strongest being Terence Howard's. I
>felt that his character was the most complex. He was dealing
>with issues that I actually found engaging, such as witnessing
>a racist cop demean him by groping his wife, or having someone
>(Tony Danza, of all people) question whether or not someone
>would be convinced that a young Black person could speak
>articulate English. The moment where he snaps on a bunch of
>cops with loaded guns (after riding around with Ludacris, who
>tried to carjack him) pointing at him could've easily been one
>of many outrageously awkward moments throughout the film, but
>the fact that it was one of the few compelling moments is a
>testament to how powerful of an actor Howard is.
>
>Actually, the performances in general were the only good thing
>this film had going for it. But things were going downhill
>from the start. First off, the score was one of the worst
>I've ever heard. It tried so hard to evoke an emotional
>response that I just didn't buy it, and it set the tone for
>the rest of the film. The screenplay was cluttered with
>forced dialogue and too many unconvincing scenes. For
>instance, one of the opening scenes where the Iranian
>shopkeeper has a confrontation with a gun dealer, who retorts
>with this onslaught about "flying planes into the towers" (or
>something like that), come on, who really talks like that?
>And it's unfortunate that this character was in the most
>annoying scenes in the movie. I was done with the film after
>the scene where he goes to the locksmith's house and threatens
>to shoot him. The way they had his daughter appear as if she
>got shot was so horrifically overdramatized. Why couldn't
>they just let it be known then and there that the guy had
>blanks in his gun all along. When that was revealed in the
>film, boy was I pissed.
>
>Also, I just wasn't won over by the film's ham-fisted
>execution of coincidence and redemption throughout. The
>scenes with Matt Dillon having to save Thandie Newton from a
>burning car and when Ryan Phillipe shoots Larenz Tate, what am
>I supposed to get from this? That Matt Dillon doesn't hate
>Black people anymore because he saved the life of a woman he
>groped a night or two before? That Ryan Phillipe is an
>unconscious racist because he shot a Black dude who was
>hitchiking? If he was that paranoid, why pick him up in the
>first place? The film was riddled with these unconvincing
>moments, yet it won Best Screenplay. This is even more
>outrageous, considering there were some worthy contenders
>(Good Night and Good Luck, Syriana, Match Point, and The Squid
>and the Whale). UGGGHHH!!!
>
>I can go on and on about the issues I had with Crash (if you
>would like me to elaborate further, please hit me up), but the
>major problem I had with it that on all accounts (the score,
>the screenplay, and in some cases, the performances), it tries
>so hard to reach people emotionally that it just falls flat
>(another prime example of this, Sandra Bullock's character
>tumbling down the stairs after saying to someone on the phone,
>"I'm angry all the time and I don't know why."). It gives the
>impression that it has no faith in itself. Also, it's not
>that the film needed a nice, tidy conclusion, but what's there
>to take away from it? That everyone's prejudiced? Did I need
>to spend 100 minutes of my life for a film to help me come to
>that realization?
>
>Some people may find my response to the film harsh, but I
>guess it's because I take a more complex, intense look at
>racism and bigotry than some people. For some time now, I've
>moved past the point that racism and other issues (sexism,
>homophobia, or any other form of discrimination) can be solved
>on a social or emotional level. I just think it's too
>convenient to approach things that way. I personally feel
>that issues such as these need to be dealt with on a
>structural level, politically and economically. If such
>institutions as these are made more inclusive in terms of
>race, gender and class, that's the most effective way to
>change society, albeit the most difficult (I haven't forgotten
>that we do live in America). Although it did attempt to
>address racism in that sense through Don Cheadle's character,
>the film falls flat to me because it relies so heavily on the
>social and the emotional. And I have no problems with films
>being made for the sake of prompting dialogue (hey, Spike
>Lee's built a career on doing this), but in this case, it's a
>conversation that I find destined to go nowhere.
>
>Crash also received a nomination for best song, but lost to
>"It's Hard Out Here for a Pimp" from Hustle and Flow (Whoever
>thought that the group responsible for popularizing codeine
>syrup would win an Oscar for best song? Pretty soon they'll
>give it to a sitcom star that moonlights as an R&B singer for
>playing a legendary blind soul...oh, never mind). If you saw
>the performance of the song "In the Deep," that alone
>epitomized everything that I hated about the film.
>Unbelievable.
>
>BROTHER_DONTE
>mcfaddendonte@gmail.com
>
>A profile on Milwaukee's poetry scene:
>http://www.mkeonline.com/story.asp?id=333698
>
>More about yours truly:
>http://www.myspace.com/mcfaddendonte