Crash

Life is a series of chance encounters and chance comments, propelling complete strangers into conflicting orbits.

Employing a tightly-woven, multi-layered narrative, Crash draws parallels between characters of different faiths, backgrounds and classes trapped in the multi-cultural melting pot of contemporary Los Angeles.

Police officer Ryan (Dillon) and his rookie partner Hansen (Phillippe) receive a radio alert about a stolen vehicle. They pull over an African-American couple, film director Cameron (Dashon) and his wife Christine (Newton). Harsh words fly and Ryan retaliates by inappropriately frisking Christine, knowing his badge protects him.

A few blocks away, dashing district attorney Rick Cabot (Fraser) and his wife Jean (Bullock) are the unsuspecting victims of car-jackers Peter (Tate) and Anthony (Bridges). Within 36 hours, one of the car-jackers will be dead. Meanwhile, detectives Graham (Cheadle) and Ria (Esposito), who are secretly lovers, face tough choices about their relationship and a moral dilemma when asked to lie to cover up corruption within the department.

"In L.A., nobody touches you. Were always behind this metal and glass," observes Graham as he stares at the endless stream of traffic through the city.

"I think we miss that touch so much, we crash into each other just so we can feel something."

Comedy, tragedy and romance collide with surprising and often moving results, interspersed with breathtaking set pieces. The starry cast is sublime, especially Dillon and Newton. Indeed, its hard to fault Crash at all the perfect collision of tour-de-force direction, writing and performance.