Cue The Eurythmics
It is raining in LA again. Not the torrential down-pour of last season, but a sad misty dribble. I, for the most part, love the rain, but that is tempered by the horrors of trying to drive across town when the legions of jack-asses are sliding around in their fucking H2s while yapping on their cell phones. My paranoia wasn’t helped by watching “Crash” on DVD lastnight.(the 2004 Paul Haggis film not the earlier Cronenberg film.) The film was very good, exceeding my expectations with an intricate plot and an all-star cast. I have no idea how Haggis was able to attach so many veteran Character Actors to the film. The script was excellent; the story centers around a group of Angelinos brought together by the one element that all Angelinos share: the streets. Car jackings, accidents, road-rage, and traffic are the catalysts for confrontation between the characters and their ideals. Haggis plays a tricky shell-game with each character and racial identities, alternately showing us their stereotypical behaviors and the underlying humanity of each character. It turns out to be pretty powerful and I recommend the film, especially to my fellow Los Angeles residents as it tackles issues that we all neglect to deal with in our everyday life.