The polarization of "Crash"

[lizziebith]

Because I am ALWAYS late to the party:

Well, I finally rented and watched "Crash" yesterday -- I didn't really have an interest in doing so until reading this thread. I must confess that I have a bias against films that come out swinging in "I hate L.A." mode. So I wasn't all that interested in subjecting myself to this movie, and was fully prepared, as I set the disc in the player, to hate it. [/disclaimer]

I watched it twice, just to be sure I hadn't missed something, but I didn't hate it. I didn't like it either. It made me feel cold and alienated and depressed. It rang false to me from the git-go: we're so isolated and self-absorbed here in L.A. that we crash into each other to connect? Puh-leeze. That is an embarrassingly pretentious device to utilize at the beginning of a piece of freaking film.

I didn't see anyone I've ever met in this film: I wondered who all the fantasy people were. I was amazed at the phoney dialogue and the stilted feel of it. It looked so "staged" -- even the big scene with the fingering. I didn't buy it at all. I'm kind of shocked that I have this much of a disconnect with a representation of Los Angeles that resonates with so many others...

Still, I actually really dig the style of films like this: all the artificial intersections and threads...(Altman-esque! A director you either love or hate -- I love!) But I think the style was wholly inappropriate for the subject matter, and contributed to the sense of ummmmm what planet is this supposed to be taking place on feeling I had all through both viewings. Or maybe it was not inappropriate for the subject matter -- maybe it just plain wasn't well-executed. :shrug: It was pretty, though, I'll give it that! I loved the shots of the valley. Although I'm a sucker for pretty valley shots -- because I loves me my valley. All the people in it were pretty, too. Maybe a little too pretty? Again, I didn't find that realistic. This film maybe needed some gritty, not pretty. Only the Middle-Eastern shopkeeper looked real. Oh, and Matt Dillon's dad. More of that and less of Sandra Bullock's carefully-ironed hair, please. I know that was supposed to illustrate the rigidity of her character, but I just hate that visual hammer-on-the-head manipulation.

Bottom line for me: it didn't succeed. Two viewings. I tried. And I just felt "meh" about it. As I said to the Mr.: A Good Rental. I enjoyed the pretty. I was reminded that I miss Altman. I like my fantasy clearly labeled as such. Won't be buying it.

EDIT: The next post better be all about how I'm wrong, wrong, WRONG!