But when it becomes clear that the explicitness won't stop and the gears of the screenplay start grinding out heavy-handed ironies, the film morphs into an oppressive bore.
I watched Crash on Showtime the other day and I was totally embarrassed I liked it at all when I saw it the first time, in May... From the first scene (the acident between the hispanic girl and the asian lady) I was struck by how exaggerated was the depiction of the racism/ethnocentrism of the characters. Like charicatures. The whole film was indeed, boring as hell.
I must have inhaled paint thinner, or something, when I first saw Crash. I thought it was a good film, even though not an impressive one. More like an impressive effort with good results. I even agreed it might deserve a nomination, cause I thought it was better than the average Joe Schmoe/Jane Plain films in the theatres at that time. I guess, my reaction to it was the one of a fairly hungry man eating a bologna sandwich - it was satisfactory, and made me content.
Then, in December I tasted caviar... (or whatever thrills your palate, LOL). That's when I realized the low quality of Crash - I was comparing it to a masterpiece. So, starting with the infamous SAG Awards I began to hate Crash, not for its mere existence, but because it was gaining undeserved praise. The more praise it gained, the more I hated it, because the more unfair it was.
I love the fact that all these articles are written in defense/praise of BBM, and, for many years now, I despised the average intellectual level of the Academy, so I don't think much of an Oscar award. However, I don't think I will ever get over the trauma of hearing Crash's name called out as winner at the Oscars. It's not that winning the award means much, intrinsically. It's what refusing to give it to BBM meant, as a message to the masses: forsake art and high quality films, embrace bigotry for safety's sake. Like we need more of that mentality...
