Crash
- Director: Paul Haggis
- United States, 2004
Paul Haggis is one of those people who was obviously born to make movies. Already a decorated screenwriter of note, his mainstream directorial debut landed Best Picture, Best Screenplay and Best Editing at the Oscars.
Choosing Los Angeles to tell a series of interrelated stories (see also: Magnolia, Short Cuts), Haggis’ defining theme is the cause and effect of racial prejudice.
Some characters and their stories are less effective than others: Chris Bridges’ Anthony is rather too glib, Brendan Fraser’s Rick Cabot is simply there to glue a couple of stories together and his wife (Sandra Bullock) leaves it very late to make a useful contribution to the narrative. On the whole though, Crash is an emotionally powerful ensemble drama and hopefully a precedent for Paul Haggis as a director.
