Crash

** – This movie won the Academy Award for best picture in 2005. How it did so is quite beyond my understanding. When Paul Haggis envisions Los Angeles, he apparently sees a filthy, decaying and corrupt metropolis filled with stupid, angry and irrational people that constant fight with each other largely over matters of race. I don’t necessarily disagree with that assessment, but it is the complete out-of-leftfield rage and unjustified actions and decisions on the parts of the characters that made this movie less than enjoyable to watch. On the bright side, it was filmed pretty nicely and had a lot of interesting shots, while the performances were also pretty good for the most part. However, I was completely unable to understand why the characters did what they did throughout the film, to the point of being frustrated and annoyed. Everyone in this film was just a huge jerk with no likeable characteristics whatsoever. And then Ludacris frees a bunch of poor, filthy Asians from the back of a van onto the streets of LA and that is supposed to be a heartwarming and uplifting end? Give me a break. This is a highly overrated film with very few redeeming qualities and a story that goes nowhere.