The series features Dennis Hopper as a record producer in Los Angeles, California, and examines how his life is connected to other characters in the city, including a police officer (Ross McCall) and his partner, an actress-turned-police officer (Arlene Tur). Crash received several awards and nominations, and was named one of the top 10 films of the year by both the American Film Institute and the National Board of Review. The film's plot elements, such as the means through which all the characters are connected, were derided by critics as contrived and unconvincing. Crash is a 2004 American crime drama film directed by Paul Haggis, who co-wrote the screenplay and produced the film with Robert Moresco. Similarly, a 2014 survey of film critics by The Atlantic identified the film's victory as among the most glaring mistakes made by the Academy Awards.
The film's use of moral quandary as a storytelling medium was widely reported as ironic since many saw it as the "safe" alternative to Brokeback Mountain, which is about a gay relationship (the other nominees, Good Night and Good Luck, Capote, and Munich also tackle heavy subjects of McCarthyism, homosexuality, and terrorism). In the years since the film's release, criticism and debate about the film have grown alongside ongoing cultural dialogues about race and social movements in the United States. The scene where Daniel is talking with his daughter under her bed is extended and a new scene is added with officer Hansen in the police station locker room. The director's cut of the film was released in a two-disc special edition DVD on April 4, 2006, with more bonus content than the one-disc set. The iTunes release is the complete score released through Yari Music Group, and has the cues isolated and in film order (unlike the commercial score CD which is edited, incomplete, in a different order, and in suite form). In a 2020 interview with Vulture, Thandiwe Newton stated that Haggis ensured she was wearing special protective underwear for the police sexual assault scene, because he wanted it to look "real" from the camera's perspective for Matt Dillon "to go there". Production was delayed for a week when Haggis had a heart attack while filming a scene, although he defied medical advice to hire a new director.
The film was a success at the box office, earning $98.4 million worldwide against its $6.5 million budget. Crash premiered at the 2004 Toronto International Film Festival on September 10, 2004, before it was released in theaters on May 6, 2005, by Lions Gate Films. The film features an ensemble cast, including Sandra Bullock, Don Cheadle, Matt Dillon, 666 rs Jennifer Esposito, William Fichtner, Brendan Fraser, Terrence Howard, Chris "Ludacris" Bridges, Thandiwe Newton, Michael Peña, Larenz Tate and Ryan Phillippe.
Top 10 Lists
Waters and Ria later arrive at the scene, revealing that the dead body is Waters's brother Peter. When police catch the SUV, Hansen recognizes Cameron, and out of remorse for the earlier traffic stop, he vouches for Cameron to be let off with a warning. The pair learn that a White undercover cop, Detective Conklin, shot a Black undercover cop, Detective Lewis, unaware that the other was a policeman. Later, Waters arrives at a crime scene, where he discovers an unidentified corpse. Dillon received nominations for Best Supporting Actor from the Academy Awards, BAFTA, Golden Globe, and Screen Actors Guild.
Critical Response And Legacy
According to Yari, the departure of Ledger from the cast reduced the film's international value and the budget was brought down by $1 million. Anthony and Peter unsuccessfully carjack Cameron's car, and Peter flees the scene before the police arrive. The film received generally positive reviews from critics, who praised the direction and performances (particularly Dillon's) but criticized the portrayal of race relations as simplistic and unsubtle. A self-described "passion piece" for Haggis, the film features racial and social tensions in Los Angeles and was inspired by a real-life incident in which Haggis's Porsche was carjacked in 1991 outside a video store on Wilshire Boulevard. Dillon received nominations for best supporting actor at the Academy Awards, British Academy Film Awards, Golden Globe Awards, and Screen Actors Guild Awards for his performance. The film was nominated for six awards at the 78th Academy Awards and won three, for Best Picture, Best Original Screenplay, and Best Film Editing. After the Oscars telecast, critic Roger Ebert insisted in his column that the better film won the award. The film ranked at #460 in Empire's 2008 poll of the "500 Greatest Films of All Time".
Production
The film has been described as using multicultural and sentimentalist imagery to cover over material and "historically sedimented inequalities" that continue to affect various racial groups in Los Angeles. In 2009, cultural critic Ta-Nehisi Coates criticized the film as shallow and "unthinking", naming Crash "the worst film of the decade". The redemption arcs of the white characters, particularly Sergeant Ryan, drew controversy for their execution. Much criticism focused on how the film presents racism and its origins, with many noting its depiction of race relations as too simplistic and tidy. Ella Taylor of LA Weekly described it as "not just one of the best Hollywood movies about race, but along with Collateral, one of the finest portrayals of contemporary LA life period." Roger Ebert gave the film four out of four stars and described it as "a movie of intense fascination", listing it as the best film of 2005.
The original score was released by Superb Records through Lionsgate Films in 2005. The casting of Brendan Fraser as the district attorney, which came last, was pivotal in getting the film green-lit. Yari offered Haggis $7.5 million to produce the script as a film, on the condition he could assemble an ensemble cast of major stars. Haggis cowrote the first draft of Crash with Robert Moresco in 2001 after being fired from Family Law. He later stated that he wrote Crash not simply to criticize racists but to "bust liberals" for the idea that the United States had become a post-racial society. Writer and director Paul Haggis was inspired to make the film after being carjacked by two African-American men at a Blockbuster Video on Wilshire Boulevard while driving home from the premiere of The Silence of the Lambs in February 1991.
Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film a grade of "A−" on an A+ to F scale. The site's critical consensus reads, "A raw and unsettling morality piece on modern angst and urban disconnect, Crash examines the dangers of bigotry and xenophobia in the lives of interconnected Angelenos." On Metacritic, the film has a score of 66 out of 100, based on 36 critics, indicating "generally favorable" reviews. Crash was the first Best Picture winner to be released on Blu-ray Disc in the US, on June 27, 2006. Crash was released on VHS & DVD on September 6, 2005, in widescreen and fullscreen one-disc versions. Despite its success in relation to its cost, Crash was the lowest-grossing film at the domestic box office to win Best Picture since The Last Emperor in 1987. The film grossed $53.4 million domestically, making back more than seven times its estimated $6.5 million-budget. After a rough cut was shown at 2004 Toronto International Film Festival, the film premiered at the Elgin Theatre in Toronto in September 2004.