Crash (2004 film)

Crash
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Paul Haggis
Screenplay by	Paul Haggis Bobby Moresco
Story by	Paul Haggis
Produced by	Paul Haggis Mark R. Harris Robert Moresco Don Cheadle Bob Yari Cathy Schulman
Starring	See Cast
Cinematography	J. Michael Muro
Edited by	Hughes Winborne
Music by	Mark Isham
Production companies	ApolloProScreen GmbH & Co Harris Company BlackFriar's Bridge Bull's Eye Entertainment Yari Film Group DEJ Productions
Distributed by	Lionsgate(USA) Pathé (UK)
Release dates	September 10, 2004 (2004-09-10) (TIFF) May 6, 2005 (2005-05-06) (United States)
Running time	112 minutes
Countries	United States Germany
Language	English
Budget	$7 million
Box office	$98,410,061

Crash is a 2004 American drama film co-written, produced and directed by Paul Haggis. The film is about racial and social tensions in Los Angeles, California. A self-described "passion piece" for Haggis, Crash was inspired by a real life incident in which his Porsche was carjacked outside a video store on Wilshire Boulevard in 1991.

Several characters' stories interweave during two days in Los Angeles: a black detective estranged from his mother; his criminal younger brother and gang associate; the white District Attorney and his irritated and pampered wife; a racist white police officer who disgusts his more idealistic younger partner; an African American Hollywood director and his wife who must deal with the officer; a Persian-immigrant father who is wary of others; and a hard-working family man Hispanic locksmith. The film differs from many other films about racism in its rather impartial approach to the issue. Rather than separating the characters into victims and offenders, victims of racism are often shown to be racist themselves in different contexts and situations. Also, racist remarks and actions are often shown to stem from ignorance and misconception rather than a malicious personality.

Crash stars a large ensemble cast including Sandra Bullock, Don Cheadle, Matt Dillon, Jennifer Esposito, Brendan Fraser, Terrence Howard, Chris "Ludacris" Bridges, Thandie Newton, Ryan Phillippe, Larenz Tate and Michael Peña. In 2006, the film received six Academy Award nominations and won three for Best Picture, Best Original Screenplay and Best Film Editing at the 78th Academy Awards.

Plot

Los Angeles detectives Graham Waters (Don Cheadle) and his partner Ria (Jennifer Esposito) approach a crime scene investigation. Waters exits the car to check out the scene. One day prior, Farhad (Shaun Toub), a Persian shop owner, and his daughter, Dorri (Bahar Soomekh), argue with each other in front of a gun store owner as Farhad tries to buy a revolver. The shop keeper grows impatient and orders an infuriated Farhad outside. Dorri defiantly finishes the gun purchase, which she had opposed. The purchase entitles the buyer to one box of ammunition. She selects a red box.

In another part of town, Rick Cabot (Brendan Fraser), the local district attorney, and his wife, Jean (Sandra Bullock), are carjacked as they are about to enter their Lincoln Navigator, by Anthony (Chris "Ludacris" Bridges) and Peter (Larenz Tate). Later, at the Cabot house, Hispanic locksmith Daniel Ruiz (Michael Peña) is changing their locks when he overhears Jean complaining about having been carjacked earlier by two black men and now having to endure a heavily tattooed Hispanic with a shaved head changing their locks, because she is sure he is going to leave and give copies of the new keys to "his other gang members." Detectives Waters and Ria next arrive at the scene of a shooting between two drivers. The surviving shooter is a white male, identified as an undercover police officer. The dead shooter, a black male, is revealed also to be an undercover police officer. There is a large amount of cash found in the black officer's trunk. This is the third time the white officer has shot and killed a black man.

LAPD officer John Ryan (Matt Dillon) and his partner, Tom Hansen (Ryan Phillippe), begin their evening patrol. They pull over a Navigator similar to the one carjacked earlier, despite discrepancies in the descriptions of the carjackers and in the license plate numbers. They order the couple, TV director Cameron Thayer (Terrence Howard) and his wife Christine (Thandie Newton), to exit. Cameron is cooperative, but Christine has had a few drinks and is argumentative. This annoys Ryan, who manually molests Christine under the pretense of administering a pat-down; intimidated, Cameron says nothing. The couple is released without a citation. Once home, Christine becomes enraged that Cameron did nothing while she was being violated. Cameron insists that what he did was correct and storms out. Arriving home from work long after dark, Daniel finds his young daughter, Lara, hiding under her bed after hearing a gunshot outside. To comfort her, Daniel gives her an "invisible impenetrable cloak," which makes her feel safe enough to fall asleep in her bed. In the carjacked SUV, Anthony and Peter, arguing and distracted, hit something while passing a parked white van. Stopping, they discover that they have run over an Asian man, now trapped under the SUV. They argue about what to do with him, finally dumping him in front of a hospital and driving away.

The next day, at the LAPD station, Hansen talks to his superior, Lt. Dixon (Keith David), about switching partners. Dixon, a black man, claims that Hansen's charge of Ryan as a racist could cost both Hansen and Dixon their jobs. Dixon suggests a transfer to a one-man car and mockingly tells Hansen that he should justify it by claiming to have uncontrollable flatulence. Ryan visits Shaniqua Johnson (Loretta Devine), a "managed care" insurance representative with whom he argued earlier. Apologizing for insulting her previously, he explains that his father was previously diagnosed with a bladder infection but he fears the diagnosis is incorrect and that it may be prostate cancer. Ryan wants him to see a different doctor, but Shaniqua icily informs him that the health plan won't cover it. Daniel is seen replacing a lock at Farhad's shop and tries to explain to him that the door frame is shattered and not secure and needs to be replaced. Farhad, whose English is limited, misunderstands and accuses Daniel of cheating him and refuses to pay. The next morning, Farhad discovers the store has been looted, wrecked and tagged with graffiti. His insurance company does not cover the damage, calling it a case of negligence, as he had been advised to replace the door and did not. Farhad looks for and finds Daniel's full name on the discarded invoice and vows revenge. Detective Waters visits his mother, a some-time hard drug abuser. She asks him to find his missing younger brother; he promises and takes notice that there is almost no food in the apartment as he is leaving.

In the studio where Cameron works, a white producer, Fred (Tony Danza), suggests that a black actor isn't acting "black" enough, as he was using proper grammar. Cameron had been satisfied with the take just completed, but Fred strongly suggests that another take be done, with the black actor speaking more "black." Cameron initially pushes back but, threatened with his job, he concedes. Ryan comes across a car accident and as he crawls into the overturned vehicle, he finds Christine, who is trapped. Upon recognizing Ryan, Christine becomes hysterical, screaming for him to leave her alone and refusing his help, but gasoline is leaking from the tank and running downhill towards another wreck, which has already caught fire. He calms her down, and with the assistance of his partner and spectators, Ryan pulls Christine out just as her car bursts into flames. A confused but grateful Christine is taken away by EMTs. Anthony and Peter attempt to carjack Cameron. Cameron has reached his limit of being pushed around, and he resists the attempt. Cameron starts punching Anthony. Anthony tells Peter to shoot Cameron, but Peter does not. Instead, he tries to break the fight up. As police officers arrive, Cameron and Anthony both race for the car and jump in. Cameron drives away, with Anthony continuing to hold a gun on him. A car chase ensues; one of the police responders to the chase is Tom Hansen, who recognizes the vehicle as the one he and Ryan pulled over the night before. Cameron drives to a dead end, grabs Anthony's gun, and gets out of the car, all the while yelling insults at the officers. Just before he pulls out the gun, Hansen convinces him to stop aggravating the situation and just go home. Hansen vouches for Cameron to the other officers, telling them that Cameron has no prior history of breaking the law and promising to give him a "harsh" warning. All depart. Cameron tells Anthony that as a black man he is embarrassed for him and gives back the gun as he drops Anthony at a bus stop.

Using the White Pages of the phone book, Farhad locates Daniel's home address and travels there with his gun. As Daniel's wife Elizabeth (Karina Arroyave) watches in horror, Farhad shoots at Daniel at point-blank range -- just as Daniel's daughter Lara jumps into his arms to protect her father with the "invisible cloak." It takes the grief-stricken parents a moment to realize that Lara is miraculously unharmed; the red box of ammunition that Dorri had selected contained blanks, rendering Farhad's gun harmless. Farhad later tells his daughter that he believes that the little girl was his angel, saving him from committing a terrible crime. Peter, who is hitchhiking, is picked up by Hansen. They awkwardly try to bridge the gap between their cultures. Peter sees that Hansen has a small statuette of Saint Christopher, which he also has. He begins to laugh as he realizes that there is no difference between the two of them, but Hansen thinks that he is being racist. Peter then pulls his statuette out of his pocket, but Hansen thinks it is a gun and shoots and kills Peter. Hansen dumps the body and then torches his own car in another part of town. Peter is revealed to be Waters' missing brother. Waters and his mother meet up at the morgue, and Waters promises to find who is responsible. His mother tells him not to bother, as she blames him for his brother's death. Anthony returns to the white van owned by the Asian man that they had run over earlier. Finding the keys still hanging from the door lock, he drives the van away. Kim Lee (the Asian woman from the crash at the film's opening) arrives at a hospital looking for her husband Choi Jin Gui, the man Anthony and Peter ran over. Conscious and coherent, he tells her to go and immediately cash a check that he has in his wallet. Anthony has driven the white van to a chop shop he frequents, and as they inspect the van, a number of Asian immigrants are discovered to be chained and locked in the back of the van, revealing that Choi was, in fact, involved in human trafficking. Anthony is offered $500 for each person in the van.

The last scene of the film shows the white van being parked in Chinatown, where Anthony walks to the back, opens the van, and sets the Asians free. He tells the uncomprehending passengers that "this is America," and he gives $40 to one of the men, telling him to buy everyone some "chop suey" to eat. As Anthony drives away, he passes a minor crash, which turns out to involve Shaniqua. The film closes as Shaniqua and the other driver, who rear-ended her car, hurl racial insults at one another.

Cast

• Karina Arroyave as Elizabeth
• Sandra Bullock as Jean Cabot
• Don Cheadle as Det. Graham Waters
• Keith David as Lt. Dixon
• Matt Dillon as Officer John Ryan
• Jennifer Esposito as Ria
• William Fichtner as Flanagan
• Brendan Fraser as Rick Cabot
• Terrence Howard as Cameron Thayer
• Chris "Ludacris" Bridges as Anthony
• Thandie Newton as Christine Thayer
• Ryan Phillippe as Officer Tom Hansen
• Larenz Tate as Peter Waters
• Michael Peña as Daniel
• Bahar Soomekh as Dorri

Reception

Critical response

The film received generally positive reviews from film critics. Review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reporting that 148 out of the 196 reviews they tallied were positive, for a score of 76% positive reviews and a certification of "fresh," with an average score of 7.1 out of 10. while Metacritic tallied an average score of 69 out of 100 for Crash's critical consensus. 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 film also ranks at #460 in Empire's 2008 list of the "500 Greatest Films of All Time."

From an alternative perspective, the film has been critiqued for "laying bare the racialized fantasy of the American dream and Hollywood narrative aesthetics," and for depicting the Persian shopkeeper as a "deranged, paranoid individual who is only redeemed by what he believes is a mystical act of God." The film has also been criticised for using multicultural and sentimental imagery to cover over material and "historically sedimented inequalities" that continue to affect different racial groups in Los Angeles.

Box office performance

Crash opened in wide release on May 6, 2005, and was a box-office success in the late spring of 2005. The film had a budget of $6.5 million (plus $1 million in financing). Because of the financial constraints, director Haggis filmed in his own house, borrowed a set from the TV show Monk, used his car in parts of the film, and even used cars from other staff members. It grossed $53.4 million domestically, making back more than seven times its budget. Despite its success in relation to its cost, Crash was the least grossing film at the domestic box office to win Best Picture since The Last Emperor in 1987.

Accolades

Best Picture Oscar

In 2005, controversy was generated when Crash won the Best Picture Oscar, beating the critically favored Brokeback Mountain and making it only the second film ever (the other being The Sting) to win the Academy Award for Best Picture without having been nominated for any of the three Golden Globe Awards for Best Motion Picture (Best Drama, Best Comedy/Musical and Best Foreign Film).

The film's use of moral quandary as a storytelling medium was widely reported as ironic, since many saw it as the "safe" choice to Brokeback Mountain. Critic Kenneth Turan suggested that Crash benefited from anti-homosexual discomfort among Academy members while critic Roger Ebert was of a different opinion, arguing that the better film won that year. He went on to question why many critics weren't mentioning the other nominees and that they were just mindlessly bashing Crash merely because it won over Brokeback Mountain. Ebert also placed Crash on his best ten list as #1 best film of 2005, and correctly predicted it to win Best Picture.

Film Comment magazine placed Crash first on their list of "Worst Winners of Best Picture Oscars," followed by Slumdog Millionaire at #2, and Chicago at #3.

Crash was nominated for six awards at the 78th Academy Awards and won three, including the win for Best Picture. It was nominated for two Golden Globe Awards, one for Best Supporting Actor (Matt Dillon) and the other for Best Screenplay (Paul Haggis and Robert Moresco).

Other awards include Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture at the 2005 Screen Actors Guild Awards; Best Original Screenplay at the Writers Guild of America Awards 2005; Best Original Screenplay and Best Supporting Actress (Newton) at the 59th British Academy Film Awards; Best Writer at the Critics' Choice Awards; Outstanding Motion Picture and Outstanding Actor in a Leading Role (Howard) at the Black Movie Awards; Best First Feature and Best Supporting Male (Dillon) at the Independent Spirit Awards; Best Cast and Best Writer at the Broadcast Film Critics Association Awards; and Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture (Howard) and Outstanding Motion Picture at the NAACP Image Awards.

Award	Category	Winner(s) and nominee(s)	Outcome
78th Academy Awards	Best Director	Paul Haggis	Nominated
	Best Film Editing	Hughes Winborne	Won
	Best Picture	Paul Haggis and Cathy Schulman	Won
	Best Original Song	"In the Deep"	Nominated
	Best Original Screenplay	Paul Haggis and Robert Moresco	Won
	Best Actor in a Supporting Role	Matt Dillon	Nominated
2006 ALMA Awards	Outstanding Actor in a Motion Picture	Michael Peña	Won
1st Austin Film Critics Association Awards	Best Director	Paul Haggis	Won
	Best Film		Won
59th BAFTA Film Awards	Best Cinematography	J. Michael Muro	Nominated
	Best Director	Paul Haggis	Nominated
	Best Editing	Hughes Winborne	Nominated
	Best Film		Nominated
	Best Sound		Nominated
	Best Screenplay – Original	Paul Haggis and Robert Moresco	Won
	Best Supporting Actor	Don Cheadle	Nominated
	Best Supporting Actor	Matt Dillon	Nominated
	Best Supporting Actress	Thandie Newton	Won
Black Reel Awards 2005	Best Actor	Don Cheadle	Nominated
	Best Cast		Won
	Best Film		Won
	Best Supporting Actor	Terrence Howard	Won
	Best Supporting Actor	Matt Dillon	Nominated
	Best Supporting Actress	Thandie Newton	Nominated
11th BFCA Critics' Choice Awards	Best Cast		Won
	Best Director	Paul Haggis	Nominated
	Best Film		Nominated
	Best Supporting Actor	Matt Dillon	Nominated
	Best Supporting Actor	Terrence Howard	Nominated
	Best Writer	Paul Haggis and Robert Moresco	Won
Casting Society of America Awards 2005	Best Film Casting – Drama	Sarah Finn and Randi Hiller	Won
18th Chicago Film Critics Association Awards	Best Film		Won
	Best Screenplay	Paul Haggis and Robert Moresco	Won
	Best Supporting Actor	Terrence Howard	Nominated
Cinema Audio Society Awards 2005	Outstanding Achievement in Sound Mixing for Motion Pictures		Nominated
12th Dallas-Fort Worth Film Critics Association Awards	Best Supporting Actor	Matt Dillon	Won
58th Directors Guild of America Awards	Outstanding Directorial Achievement	Paul Haggis	Nominated
Empire Awards	Best Actor	Matt Dillon	Nominated
	Best Actress	Thandie Newton	Won
	Best Film		Nominated
	Scene of the Year		Nominated
63rd Golden Globe Awards	Best Screenplay	Paul Haggis and Robert Moresco	Nominated
	Best Supporting Actor – Motion Picture	Matt Dillon	Nominated
37th NAACP Image Awards	Outstanding Motion Picture		Won
	Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture	Terrence Howard	Won
	Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture	Chris "Ludacris" Bridges	Nominated
	Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture	Don Cheadle	Nominated
	Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture	Larenz Tate	Nominated
	Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture	Thandie Newton	Nominated
17th Producers Guild of America Awards	Motion Picture Producer of the Year	Paul Haggis and Cathy Schulman	Nominated
12th Screen Actors Guild Awards	Best Cast		Won
	Best Supporting Actor	Don Cheadle	Nominated
	Best Supporting Actor	Matt Dillon	Nominated
6th Vancouver Film Critics Circle Awards	Best Supporting Actor	Terrence Howard	Won
4th Washington D.C. Area Film Critics Association Awards	Best Cast		Won
	Best Film		Nominated
	Best Screenplay – Original	Paul Haggis and Robert Moresco	Won
	Best Supporting Actor	Matt Dillon	Nominated
	Best Supporting Actor	Terrence Howard	Nominated
58th Writers Guild of America Awards	Best Screenplay – Original	Paul Haggis and Robert Moresco	Won

Music

Score

All songs were written and composed by Mark Isham, except where noted. The original score was released through labels Gut and Colosseum in 2005. 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).

No.	Title	Note	Length
1.	"Crash"		3:21
2.	"Go Forth My Son"		0:57
3.	"Hands in Plain Sight"		3:48
4.	"...Safe Now"		1:03
5.	"No Such Things as Monsters"		3:59
6.	"Find My Baby"		4:23
7.	"Negligence"		2:56
8.	"Flames"		7:59
9.	"Siren"		4:41
10.	"A Really Good Cloak"		3:28
11.	"A Harsh Warning"		2:51
12.	"Saint Christopher"		1:55
13.	"Sense of Touch"		6:44
14.	"In the Deep"	Co-written by Bird York and Michael Becker; performed by Bird York	5:55
15.	"Maybe Tomorrow"	Performed by Stereophonics	4:34

iTunes Version (Complete Score)

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Main Title"	5:14
2.	""We've Got Guns""	1:00
3.	"Black Navigator / The Grope"	5:05
4.	"A Warning"	1:18
5.	"Magic Cloak"	4:00
6.	"Back to the Toilet"	1:34
7.	""Your Father Sounds Like a Good Man""	4:22
8.	"Negligencia"	1:39
9.	"Cameron - Receipt"	2:23
10.	"The Rescue"	5:57
11.	"News Conference"	2:35
12.	"Car Jack II"	1:46
13.	""I Didn't Ask for Your Help""	2:51
14.	""Your Embarrass Me""	1:24
15.	"The Shooting"	3:29
16.	"Jean's Fall"	1:55
17.	"Illegals / Morgue"	6:43

Soundtrack

The soundtrack's title is: Crash: Music from and Inspired by the Film.

No.	Title	Artist	Length
1.	"If I..."	KansasCali	4:18
2.	"Plastic Jesus"	Billy Idol	4:49
3.	"Are You Beautiful"	Chris Pierce	2:52
4.	"Free"	Civilization	3:43
5.	"Hey God"	Randy Coleman	4:04
6.	"Take the Pain Away"	Al Berry	4:19
7.	"Problems"	Move.meant	3:49
8.	"Arrival"	Pale 3/Beth Hirsch	5:08
9.	"Acedia (The Noonday Demon)"	Quinn	3:00
10.	"In the Deep"	Bird York	3:48
11.	"Afraid"	Quincy	5:08
12.	"Maybe Tomorrow"	Stereophonics	4:37

Note: The country song playing during the carjacking scene is Whiskey Town by Moot Davis.

Home media

Crash was released on DVD on September 6, 2005, as widescreen and fullscreen one-disc versions, with a number of bonus features, including a music video by KansasCali (now known as The Rocturnals) for the song "If I..." off of the "Inspired by Soundtrack to Crash." The director's cut of the film was released in a 2-disc special edition DVD on April 4, 2006, with more bonus content than the one-disc set. The director's cut is three minutes longer than the theatrical cut. 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 film also was released in a limited-edition VHS version. It was the last Academy Award (for Best Picture) winning film to be released in the VHS-tape format. It was also the first Best Picture winner to be released on Blu-ray Disc in the United States, on June 27, 2006.

Television series

Main article: Crash (2008 TV series)

A 13-episode series premiered on the Starz network on October 17, 2008. The series features Dennis Hopper as a record producer in Los Angeles, California, and how his life is connected to other characters in the city, including a police officer (Ross McCall) and his partner, actress-turned-police officer, Arlene Tur. The cast consists of a Brentwood mother (Clare Carey), her real-estate developer husband (D. B. Sweeney), former gang member-turned-EMT (Brian Tee), a street-smart driver (Jocko Sims), an undocumented Guatemalan immigrant (Luis Chavez), and a detective (Nick Tarabay).

See also

• Grand Canyon (1991 film)

External links

• Official website
• Crash at IMDb
• Crash at AllMovie
• Crash at Box Office Mojo
• Crash at Rotten Tomatoes