In post-Sept. 11 Los Angeles, tensions erupt when the lives of a Brentwood housewife, her district attorney husband, a Persian shopkeeper, two cops, a pair of carjackers and a Korean couple converge during a 36-hour period.
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Credits: TheMovieDb.

Film Cast:

• Jean Cabot: Sandra Bullock
• Det. Graham Waters: Don Cheadle
• Officer John Ryan: Matt Dillon
• Daniel: Michael Peña
• Ria: Jennifer Esposito
• Rick Cabot: Brendan Fraser
• Karen: Nona Gaye
• Cameron Thayer: Terrence Howard
• Anthony: Ludacris
• Christine Thayer: Thandiwe Newton
• Lara: Ashlyn Sanchez
• Shereen: Marina Sirtis
• Peter Waters: Larenz Tate
• Graham’s Mother: Beverly Todd
• Officer Johnson: Kathleen York
• Lt. Dixon: Keith David
• Flanagan: William Fichtner
• Park: Daniel Dae Kim
• Officer Tom Hansen: Ryan Phillippe
• Elizabeth: Karina Arroyave
• Lucien: Dato Bakhtadze
• Ken Ho: Art Chudabala
• Fred: Tony Danza
• Shaniqua Johnson: Loretta Devine
• Georgie: Ime Etuk
• Officer Gomez: Eddie J. Fernandez
• Store Owner: Howard Fong
• Officer Hill: Billy Gallo
• Bruce: Ken Garito
• Hispanic Passenger: Octavio Gómez Berríos
• Lara’s Friend: James Haggis
• Nurse Hodges: Sylva Kelegian
• Security Guard: Jayden Lund
• Gun Store Owner: Jack McGee
• First Assistant Director: Amanda Moresco
• Conklin: Martin Norseman
• Hispanic Driver: Joe Ordaz
• Choi: Greg Joung Paik
• Maria: Yomi Perry
• Kim Lee: Alexis Rhee
• Woman at Locksmith’s: Molly Schaffer
• Officer Stone: Paul E. Short
• Dorri: Bahar Soomekh
• Paramedic: Allan Steele
• Receptionist: Kate Super
• Country DJ (voice): Glenn Taranto
• Farhad: Shaun Toub
• Carjack Witness (uncredited): Curt Clendenin
• Young Peter (uncredited): Alastair Douglas
• Jamal (uncredited): Nicholas George Stark
• Pop Ryan: Bruce Kirby
• Motorcycle Cop: Sean Cory Cooper

Film Crew:

• Producer: Paul Haggis
• Producer: Don Cheadle
• Production Assistant: James Cameron
• Producer: Bob Yari
• Music Arranger: Mark Isham
• Co-Producer: Sarah Halley Finn
• Stunts: Hank Amos
• Gaffer: Dayton Nietert
• Sound Re-Recording Mixer: Marc Fishman
• Digital Colorist: Adam Hawkey
• Title Graphics: J. Kathryn Landholt
• Dolby Consultant: Andy Potvin
• Stunts: Keith Campbell
• Editor: Hughes Winborne
• Producer: Cathy Schulman
• Executive Producer: Marina Grasic
• Executive Producer: Jan Korbelin
• Second Second Assistant Director: Ime Etuk
• Co-Producer: Randi Hiller
• Director of Photography: J. Michael Muro
• Costume Design: Linda M. Bass
• Producer: Mark R. Harris
• Production Design: Laurence Bennett
• Executive Producer: Andrew Reimer
• Co-Producer: Betsy Danbury
• Executive Producer: Tom Nunan
• Set Decoration: Linda Lee Sutton
• Foley Artist: Joan Rowe
• Aerial Director of Photography: Dylan Goss
• Stunts: Dean Wayton
• Video Assist Operator: Chris Shadley
• Producer: Bobby Moresco
• Stunt Coordinator: Gary J. Wayton
• Still Photographer: Lorey Sebastian
• Camera Operator: Dana Gonzales
• Set Dressing Artist: James R. Barrows
• Hairstylist: RaMona Fleetwood
• Stunts: Monica Staggs
• Executive In Charge Of Production: Robert Katz
• Special Effects Coordinator: Ron Trost
• Electrician: Paul Arnold
• Makeup Artist: Michelle Vittone
• Location Manager: Jennifer Dunne
• Sound Re-Recording Mixer: Rick Ash
• Boom Operator: Carl Fischer
• Stunts: Erik Betts
• Supervising Sound Editor: Sandy Gendler
• Key Set Production Assistant: Jordan Brendan Finnegan
• Dialogue Editor: Karen Vassar Triest
• Sound Re-Recording Mixer: Adam Jenkins
• Post Production Supervisor: Brad Arensman
• Visual Effects Producer: Ian Noe
• Unit Publicist: Erik Bright
• Dialogue Editor: Zack Davis
• ADR Mixer: Greg Steele
• Visual Effects Coordinator: Glenn Morris
• Visual Effects Supervisor: Payam Shohadai
• Key Hair Stylist: Theraesa Rivers
• Transportation Coordinator: Michael Perrotti
• Art Direction: Brandee Dell’Aringa
• Script Supervisor: Jay Mason
• Stunts: Robair Sims
• Stunts: Chris Carnel
• Associate Producer: Dana Maksimovich
• Production Supervisor: Mads Hansen
• Still Photographer: Jim Sheldon
• Sound mixer: Richard Van Dyke
• Rigging Gaffer: Victor Svimonoff
• First Assistant Camera: Lee Blasingame
• Music Coordinator: Rebecca Rienks
• First Assistant Director: Scott Cameron
• Pilot: Peter McKernan
• Production Accountant: Tanoa Parks
• Music Supervisor: Richard Glasser
• Production Executive: Evan Edelist
• Stunts: Jack Carpenter
• Extras Casting: Jimmy Jue
• Casting Assistant: Amy Greene
• Camera Loader: Raul Riveros
• Storyboard: Jonathan Woods
• Second Assistant Camera: Kirk Bloomberg
• Key Grip: Art Bartels
• Utility Sound: Rocky Quiroz
• Grip: Jeff Goldberg
• Dolly Grip: James D. Wickman
• Studio Teachers: Jack Stern
• Foley Mixer: Darrin Mann
• Casting Associate: Erika Sellin
• Construction Coordinator: Jay Jergensen
• Creative Director: Michael McIntyre
• Colorist: Ed Twiford
• Second Assistant Director: Simone Farber
• Stunts: Kofi Elam
• Property Master: Scott Ambrose
• Assistant Camera: Matthew A. Del Ruth
• Technical Supervisor: Artaya Boonsoong
• Construction Foreman: Bradford W. Shoemaker
• Leadman: Daniel Brodo
• Painter: Steve Dennis
• Camera Intern: Cole Gibson
• Set Costumer: Mary Cheung
• Catering: Luis Brito
• Driver: Tony Barattini
• Propmaker: Oswaldo Rojas
• Scenic Artist: Tek J. Smith
• Set Medic: Barbara J. Keys
• Stand In: Paul Borbon
• Stunts: Richie Parker
• Transportation Co-Captain: Juan Ramirez
• Best Boy Grip: Bruce Chimerofsky
• Production Coordinator: Andrew Blau
• Digital Compositors: Andy Chih-Jen Chang
• Finance: Richard D. Lewis
• Assistant Location Manager: David Diamond
• ADR Recordist: Julie Altus
• Payroll Accountant: Paul Giorgi
• Stunts: Randolph LeRoi
• Music Editor: James Burt
• Stunts: April Weeden
• Third Assistant Director: Christian Pichler
• Stunts: Dartenea Bryant
• Special Effects Technician: Dan Edwards
• Additional Second Assistant Camera: James ‘Spud’ Danicic
• Digital Imaging Technician: David Fred Masselink
• Wardrobe Intern: Leyla Jabbar
• Wardrobe Supervisor: Gail Just
• Assistant Editor: J.D. McDonald
• Post Production Coordinator: Joel T. Pashby
• First Assistant Accountant: Tiffany Thomas
• Production Secretary: Dale Ottley
• Stunts: Delma Miranda

Movie Reviews:

• Wuchak: _**Provocative psychological drama**_

  Peoples of differing ethnicities and social-economic levels ‘crash’ into each other in Los Angeles over a day or so at Christmas time. These people include:

  A white cop who’s angry over the downside of affirmative action and so abuses his authority (Matt Dillon); his young white partner who objects to the abuse and actively tries to counteract it (Ryan Phillipe); a black TV director who feels emasculated over the racism he experiences and ultimately blows up (Terrence Howard); his light-skinned wife who doesn’t know when to shutteth up (Thandie Newton); an Hispanic locksmith (Michael Peña) and his young daughter with an ‘impenetrable invisible cloak’; a Persian shopkeeper who needs a scapegoat after his store is horribly vandalized, not to mention his daughter and wife; two black car thieves (Ludacris and Larenz Tate), the latter the younger brother of a detective, Graham (Don Cheadle); Graham’s beautiful partner and girlfriend, Ria (Jennifer Esposito), and her mother, a maid to the District Attorney (Brendan Fraser) and his wife (Sandra Bullock); an Asian man who’s hospitalized and his frantic wife racing to see whether he’s alive or dead.

  “Crash” is reminiscent of another L.A. drama, the 1991 masterpiece “Grand Canyon,” but has enough nuances to stand on its own. For one thing, “Crash” is even more serious and dark.

  This is an involved story with several interwoven story lines; it ain’t no mindless popcorn ‘blockbuster.’ A casual viewing won’t cut it. It’s not that kind of picture. Most of the negative criticisms about the film are by people who didn’t watch closely and then lambaste it with criticisms that aren’t even legitimate.

  For one thing, the film is about more than racism; it’s about stereotypes, hypocrites, abuse of power, the capacity for good or bad in every human soul, second chances, passive correction and shame, self-sacrifice, redemption, forgiveness, the last straw, manhood & emasculation, giving someone a break, true friendship, misunderstandings, favoritism and more.

  *** SPOILER ALERT ***

  Not every character is racist as some critics insist. Brendan Fraser’s character never shows any racism and the only reason his wife (Bullock) blows up with racially-charged statements concerning the locksmith is because she just got robbed and shoved to the pavement at gunpoint by two young black guys. How would you or I react after such an experience? Also, the cop partner of Matt Dillon’s character never displays racism in the truest sense; why else would he radically come to the defense of the director who has a fit or pick up a young black male hitchhiking? (What happens later is a misunderstanding not real racism). What about the detectives Graham & Ria and Ria’s housemaid mother? (Yes, Graham makes one derogatory statement about Hispanics, but that’s it; he’s hardly racist). These are all main characters.

  Then there’s the criticism that all the protagonists are “essentially one-dimensional racial stereotypes.” This is completely untrue. Graham and Ria (black and Latino) are successful detectives; Cameron is a successful black TV director; and the Hispanic locksmith is a family-oriented working man, not a criminal or gangbanger. Yes, there are some people who fit the stereotypes, like the two young black male thieves and the racist/abusive white cop, but one of the thieves becomes shamed for his lifestyle & hypocrisy and the racist cop is willing to risk his life for a woman of color, thus redeeming himself (from the guilt he felt over abusing his power the night before), besides his white partner is anything but a white racist who abuses his authority.

  One critic criticized the film with this multiple-choice question: “You are involved in a car accident on a busy street. The other driver is Asian. Do you: (a) Wait for the police to arrive and see if the other driver is okay; (b) Exchange insurance information with the other driver; (c) Scream and yell, “damn chinks don’t know how to drive!”

  “If you picked ‘c’ you’d love Crash.”

  This car-crash scenario DOES take place in the story, but he’s leaving out some important details: A woman & man are rear-ended by an Asian lady. Why don’t they call the cops? Because they ARE cops and there are other cops on the scene. Why does the lady detective talk back to the Asian woman? Because the latter is having a fit and throwing racial slurs at her. This is WHY she talks back to the Asian woman, not to mention she’s a cop and therefore in a position of authority. Why does the Asian woman have a fit anyway? Because she’s rushing to the hospital to see if her husband’s alive. So, you see, the witty little multiple-choice question doesn’t actually fit the reality of the film.

  *** END SPOILER ***

  Another criticism is that the racism in the story is not subtle like it is in real life. Well, haven’t you ever seen anyone blow up like in the movie? I have. In a city as big as L.A. how many such blow ups happen over any 36-hour period?

  There’s a lot of raw emotion and hard-to-watch scenes, but there are undeniable glimpses of love, hope, redemption and forgiveness as well. If you’re in the mood for a well-made psychological drama with numerous insights to the human condition, don’t miss out.

  The film runs 1 hour, 54 minutes, and was shot in the Los Angeles area.

  GRADE: A