Everybody's a critic: 'Crash'

Three stars (out of four)

The movie "Crash" is less about gimmick and more about fear and racism in this country. A half-dozen stories or more are all bumping into one another where characters are stars in one plotline and supporting stars in others.

In scenes covering the previous 48 hours, viewers catch up to where the film begins, at the scene of a fender-bender leading to the discovery of a dead body on the side of the road. A passing detective and his partner just happen to be on the scene and this is one of many literal and figurative crashes that occur within the Los Angeles framework during the film.

This film's strength is that it doesn't pigeonhole racism as mere one-sided hate.

This movie may have one coincidence too many for skeptics, but overall, "Crash" is scary, bold, and ultimately kind of sad, in that there may be no final answer until our time is up.

-- LaRisa Brookins

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Three stars (out of four)

The movie "Crash" was not what I was expecting. I thought I would be watching a movie about a major car pile-up on the Los Angeles freeway; instead it was about racism.

This movie gave the impression that if you didn't like something or someone, it's easier to take some sort of violent action to solve the problem or humiliate the person rather than to talk or work the problem out.

I thought that the movie had a great cast of well-known stars that would draw a good box office crowd, but I was disappointed with the ending.

I left the theater with these three things running through my mind:

* This is surely not the best way for our society to exist.

* Appearances can be deceiving, and the stereotypes we are led to believe about the different races may or may not be true.

* Things are not always black and white, cut and dried. We all have choices.

-- Willetta Brookins

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Three stars (out of four)

"Crash" is about racial prejudice in America. Director Paul Haggis does an excellent job of portraying the huge number of characters by giving us just enough of a glimpse into their lives to sympathize with them while simultaneously seeing how their prejudices control them. The strength of the film -- its scope -- is also its weakness. It attempts to show that racial prejudice goes in all directions. In trying to cover so much, it inevitably shortens and sometimes cheapens the story.

With a cast including Sandra Bullock, Don Cheadle, and Brendan Fraser, it's surprising that the stand-out performances come from lesser-known actor Terrance Howard and hip-hop artist Ludacris. The scenes these two share are some of the most powerful.

With violence, language, and brief nudity, this is no family film. But if you want a thought-provoking perspective of race relations in America, I highly recommend this movie.

-- Bryce Eddings