|
OFCS Rating: 77% Fresh |
|
| "The L.A. of Crash is a distorted scale model of the city that [writer-director Paul] Haggis treats as if it were the city itself." |
| Blogcritics.org |
| Alan Dale |
4.5/5 | "a searingly powerful, at times transcendent, examination of a nation's culture, alienated from, and afraid of, itself." |
| Eye for Film |
| Anton Bitel |
| "This movie did more than hold my interest. It touched my soul." |
| ReelTalk Movie Reviews |
| Betty Jo Tucker |
A | "Some may find the film too melodramatic, but the core topic demands attention." |
| FromTheBalcony |
| Bill Clark |
A+ | "This is a masterpiece of substantial proportions." |
| FilmJerk.com |
| Brian Orndorf |
| "The lesson offered here seems geared toward those viewers who were surprised by the Rodney King video." |
| PopMatters |
| Cynthia Fuchs |
1/5 | "Obnoxious, hollow, and not at all as smart or important as it thinks it is." |
| eFilmCritic.com |
| David Cornelius |
2.5/4 | "The contrivances of first-time director Paul Haggis's script ultimately hurt the film but this Crash is still worth a curious drive-by look." |
| rec.arts.movies.reviews |
| David N. Butterworth |
3/4 | "...surprisingly funny and touching..." |
| Reel Film Reviews |
| David Nusair |
C | "A preposterous view of American life that bleakly covers the surface of the social problems it tried
to paint with such broad brush strokes." |
| Ozus' World Movie Reviews |
| Dennis Schwartz |
6/10 | "well-acted and well-directed, but also betrayed by its script" |
| Draxblog Movie Reviews |
| Dragan Antulov |
3.5/4 | "An absolutely riveting, highly charged drama, Crash is an important motion picture that demands viewing in high schools across the country." |
| DustinPutman.com |
| Dustin Putman |
4/5 | "Uno está dispuesto a perdonarle todos sus facilismos porque, en términos cinematográficos, es un muy buen drama." |
| Uruguay Total |
| Enrique Buchichio |
C+ | "The film's real message isn't anti-racism but pro-screenwriter. 'Look how many coincidences we can pile up!' it seems to say. 'Look at how these stories all interlock!'" |
| EricDSnider.com |
| Eric D. Snider |
3.5/4 | "Haggis turns the screws on a nation’s anxieties and helps light the way of personal responsibility through conversation and, if need be, a little divine intervention" |
| eFilmCritic.com |
| Erik Childress |
B- | "Haggis is undoubtedly skilled at setting up effective melodramatic vignettes, even if they are hopelessly inorganic." |
| Film Blather |
| Eugene Novikov |
4/4 | "A film I intend to spend much of my life spreading the word about, because it deserves much talk and discussion among its viewers." |
| Cinema Crazed |
| Felix Vasquez Jr. |
3/4 | "...a gritty examination of misplaced tension and despair wrapped up in its makeshift boiling point...percolates with the right kind of toxic manipulation and complexity" |
| Movie Eye |
| Frank Ochieng |
B+ | "The film may be a trifle shallow in its treatment on its important topic, but it has an energy that carries you breathlessly along to a powerful conclusion." |
| One Guy's Opinion |
| Frank Swietek |
5/5 | "A crash course in unmasking the racial and class divisions in American society that make every stranger into a potential enemy." |
| Spirituality and Practice |
| Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat |
39/100 | "While it's hard not to admire Haggis' ambition here, his lofty aspirations sapped Crash of any real ingenuity or emotional punch." |
| Film and Felt |
| Gabe Leibowitz |
3/4 | "Crash's strength is that it deals intelligently with serious subjects." |
| ReelViews |
| James Berardinelli |
3.5/4 | "a finely acted and directed story that lays bares in so many ways how race informs our everyday experiences, whether we want it to or not" |
| Q Network Film Desk |
| James Kendrick |
4/5 | "Sprawling Los Angeles drama of race, power, guns and fear is a little too controlled by coincidence, but the ambitions and cast make it thought-provoking." |
| Netflix |
| James Rocchi |
2.5/4 | "a corny Hollywood attempt at a social problem drama, well acted enough to recommend" |
| Cinema Writer |
| Jay Antani |
4/4 | "Discomfiting is the only way to describe this smart, edgy drama rubbed raw by its own narrative anger." |
| Palo Alto Weekly |
| Jeanne Aufmuth |
9/10 | "[Tackles] everyone's least favorite unsavory subject: racism. And, thank its ambitious heart, Crash covers it from as many angles and through as many levels as possible" |
| Window to the Movies |
| Jeffrey Chen |
9/10 | "... everyone should see this movie." |
| JoBlo's Movie Emporium |
| JoBlo |
4/4 | "Mr. Haggis offers no easy answers, just hard questions." |
| Big Picture Big Sound |
| Joe Lozito |
B | "Racism in LA is hardly a new subject ... but it's an issue well worth revisiting as it remains the ugly underbelly of American society" |
| Old School Reviews |
| John A. Nesbit |
2/5 | "The problem with the movie is that it is so brash and transparent in its attempt to spotlight and expose every single conceivable racial divide and stereotype, it loses all credibility and can't be but gawked at." |
| Bangitout.com |
| Jordan Hiller |
2.5/5 | "full review in Greek" |
| Movies for the Masses |
| Joseph Proimakis |
5/5 | "Incendiary writing - the epithets make you squirm in post-PC nervousness in your seat, or make you hear yourself (or your friends, enemies) in the mouths of these actors." |
| Cinerina |
| Karina Montgomery |
0.5/5 | "I’m sure the filmmakers want it to start a dialogue about race, but this film has about as much racially unifying power as Rodney King." |
| 7M Pictures |
| Kevin Carr |
3/4 | "It relies too much on coincidences and shock value over thematic depth, but at least it dares to be about something heavy." |
| Montreal Film Journal |
| Kevin N. Laforest |
A- | "Haggis' scariest, most insidious success is that in surprising his audience with characters' paths, he makes us recognize our own expectations are built upon stereotypes" |
| Reeling Reviews |
| Laura Clifford |
3/5 | "Rather than feel reductively schematic, the film overall seems vividly complex and provocative in the true sense of the word — it challenges viewers to reflect and discuss, rather than surrender to knee-jerk reactions." |
| TV Guide's Movie Guide |
| Maitland McDonagh |
| "The overall impression is vividly complex and provocative in the best sense." |
| Time Out New York |
| Maitland McDonagh |
A | "While strides have been made in this country’s race relations, Crash brings to the forefront the prejudices and stereotypes that often remain unspoken." |
| Reel Times: Reflections on Cinema |
| Mark Pfeiffer |
3/4 | "As successful as Haggis is, the movie is still flawed. Worst of all, it is very contrived." |
| Movie Habit |
| Marty Mapes |
| "[H]olds up a mirror to reality that is so incisive and so harshly honest that, at moments, it sears right through you and jolts you with its wisdom." |
| Flick Filosopher |
| MaryAnn Johanson |
2.5/5 | "I almost liked it, because of how the actors struggled, and sometimes succeeded, to rise above the domineering message and create real people." |
| Goatdog's Movies |
| Michael W. Phillips, Jr. |
4/4 | "Crash is always entertaining and provocative, never depressing. It doesn’t beat you over the head with a message, but rather lets you draw your own conclusions." |
| Aisle Seat |
| Mike McGranaghan |
A- | "The characters keep surprising themselves and each other, for better and for worse, and they surprise us, too.
" |
| Movie Mom at Yahoo! Movies |
| Nell Minow |
3/4 | "The script confronts prejudice with unvarnished nastiness." |
| Slant Magazine |
| Nick Schager |
4/5 | "Feels perhaps a bit too much like Magnolia for its own good. But it's a solid film about seriously important issues." |
| Shadows on the Wall |
| Rich Cline |
4/5 | "Don't let yourself get carried away by the raves: Crash is solid but no masterpiece." |
| eFilmCritic.com |
| Rob Gonsalves |
A | "A brilliantly executed series of interlocking stories about race and prejudice. The story constantly defies expectations as it follows its multifaceted characters." |
| Laramie Movie Scope |
| Robert Roten |
B | "[Helmer Paul Haggis] needs to develop a firmer hand on his own work to really shine." |
| Reeling Reviews |
| Robin Clifford |
3.5/5 | "Haggis and savvy editor Hughes Winborne manage to pull all of these threads together and weave an engaging look at the abhorrent state of racism ... in our major cities." |
| JWR |
| S. James Wegg |
|
OFCS Rating: 77% Fresh |
|
