Barnes & Noble

Quite accurately described by studio publicists as "a provocative and unflinching look" at contemporary life in a post-9/11 Los Angeles suffused with racial tensions, Crash boasts an unusually complex script and wonderful performances. It also moralizes and traffics in outrageous coincidences. Nonetheless, this drama from Million Dollar Baby screenwriter Paul Haggis sports some truly unforgettable sequences and an ensemble cast that, individually and collectively, supplies perhaps the best acting in any movie released this year. No less than a half dozen plot threads are used to weave a multilayered story in which most of the characters interact with one another, in some cases without realizing it. Brendan Fraser and Sandra Bullock play a district attorney and his wife who find themselves carjacked on a busy L.A. street. Matt Dillon plays a racist cop who deliberately harasses an African-American TV director Terrence Howard and his beautiful wife (Thandie Newton) while his embarrassed partner (Ryan Phillippe) is obliged to look on. Don Cheadle and Jennifer Esposito play police detectives investigating what appears to be a racially motivated shooting with political implications for the police department. Other subplots involve a hardworking Latino locksmith (Michael Pena), a Persian shopkeeper (Shaun Toub) whose store is robbed, and a pair of young black men (Larenz Tate and the rapper Chris "Ludacris" Bridges) who spend the day trying to boost cars. There's no denying that the movie deals with important issues, and despite its earnest self-righteousness Crash contributes forcefully and memorably to a debate our society needs to have. Ed Hulse

All Movie Guide

Issues of race and gender cause a group of strangers in Los Angeles to physically and emotionally collide in this drama from director and screenwriter Paul Haggis. Graham (Don Cheadle) is a police detective whose brother is a street criminal, and it hurts him to know his mother cares more about his ne'er-do-well brother than him. Graham's partner is Ria (Jennifer Esposito), who is also his girlfriend, though she has begun to bristle at his emotional distance, as well as his occasional insensitivity over the fact he's African-American and she's Hispanic. Rick (Brendan Fraser) is an L.A. district attorney whose wife, Jean (Sandra Bullock), makes little secret of her fear and hatred of people unlike herself. Jean's worst imaginings about people of color are confirmed when her SUV is carjacked by two African-American men -- Anthony (Chris Bridges, aka Ludacris), who dislikes white people as much as Jean hates blacks, and Peter (Larenz Tate), who is more open minded. Cameron (Terrence Howard) is a well-to-do African-American television producer with a beautiful wife, Christine (Thandie Newton). While coming home from a party, Cameron and Christine are pulled over by Officer Ryan (Matt Dillon), who subjects them to a humiliating interrogation (and her to an inappropriate search) while his new partner, Officer Hansen (Ryan Phillippe), looks on. Daniel (Michael Pena) is a hard-working locksmith and dedicated father who discovers that his looks don't lead many of his customers to trust him. And Farhad (Shaun Toub) is a Middle Eastern shopkeeper who is so constantly threatened in the wake of the 9/11 attacks that he decided he needs a gun to defend his family. Crash was the first directorial project for award-winning television and film writer Haggis. Mark Deming

Entertainment Weekly

The stunning, must-see drama Crash is proof that words have not lost the ability to shock in our anesthetized society. Lisa Schwarzbaum

Chicago Sun-Times

Not many films have the possibility of making their audiences better people. I don't expect Crash to work any miracles, but I believe anyone seeing it is likely to be moved to have a little more sympathy for people not like themselves. Roger Ebert

Product Details

• UPC: 031398179382
• Source: LIONS GATE
• Region Code: 1
• Presentation: Wide Screen
• Language: English
• Subtitles: Español
• Editions: Subtitled
• Time: 2:02:00
• Sales Rank: 2,675

This DVD is also available as part of a box set:

• Crash / Monster's Ball Oscar Gift Set

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