Crash

Last night I went to Asia Style on St Georges Road for dinner. It was all right, but we were slightly confused by the ordering system. And when Jo asked about a seafood dish she was ‘recommended’ the dearest thing in the restaurant. We probably will go back though.

From there we went via the Halt Bar to the cinema. We saw Crash, which might be the best film of the year so far. All I really knew about it was that it was an ensemble piece about race relations in Los Angeles. That’s all you really need to know as that pretty much sums it up.

Directed by former Diff’rent Strokes and Love Boat writer Paul Haggis (who also wrote the excellent Million Dollar Baby) some of the ensemble cast are:

Don Cheadle as a detective with family problems.

Brendan Fraser as a DA worried about losing the black vote.

Matt Dillon as a racist cop stressed through caring for his elderly father.

An excellent Michael Pena, who I knew from playing Shane’s new partner in The Shield, as a locksmith who finds himself as the outlet for a few folks’ outrage.

Ryan Phillippe as an idealistic young policeman.

A great cameo from William Fitchner and there’s even a brief appearance by Tony Danza.

There are certainly holes in it to be picked – if that were your wish. However I thought it moved along at a nice pace and was the type of film where midway thru you think ‘this is brilliant’. It may not be to everyone’s tastes. A lot of the charcters aren’t very likeable for example and Jo said she thought it was good but depressing. For me though it’s taking home a solid 4 Tom stars.