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 who find themselves trapped in the multi-cultural melting pot of contemporary Los Angeles.
Police officer Ryan (Matt Dillon) and his rookie partner Hansen (Ryan Phillippe) receive a radio alert about a stolen vehicle.
They pull over an African-American couple, film director Cameron (Terrence Howard) and his wife Christine (Thandie Newton).
Harsh words fly, mostly from the intoxicated and outraged wife; Ryan retaliates by inappropriately frisking Christine, knowing full well that his badge protects him.
A few blocks away, dashing district attorney Rick Cabot (Brendan Fraser) and his wife Jean (Sandra Bullock) are the unsuspecting victims of car-jackers Peter (Larenz Tate) and Anthony (Chris Bridges, aka rapper Ludacris).
Jean is deeply shaken, lashing out at the people closest to her; Rick hastily consults his advisors, spinning the incident for his own political gain.
Within 36 hours, one of the car-jackers will be dead.
Meanwhile, detectives Graham (Don Cheadle) and Ria (Jennifer Esposito), who are secretly lovers, face tough choices about their relationship and a moral dilemma when one of them is asked to lie to cover up corruption within the department.
And Persian store owner Farhad (Shaun Toub), who lives in perpetual fear of robbery at the hands of racist thugs, loses his temper with Mexican locksmith (Michael Pena) with devastating consequences.
"In LA, nobody touches you. We're always behind this metal and glass," observes detective Graham as he stars despairingly at the endless stream of traffic chugging through the city.
"It's the sense of touch. I think we miss that touch so much, that we crash into each other just so we can feel something."
Crash is a haunting modern morality play, unearthing uncomfortable universal truths about intolerance and prejudice in us all.
Writer-director Paul Haggis, who penned the screenplay for Clint Eastwood's Oscar-winning Million Dollar Baby, and co-writer Robert Moresco draw us inexorably into the shared (mis)fortunes of their vast array of characters.
Comedy, tragedy and romance collide with surprising and often moving results, interspersed with breathtaking set pieces, including the rescue of a stricken driver from an overturned car and a tense stand off between police and an armed driver.
The plot deviates in the blink of an eye along unexpected tangents, constantly taking our breath away with an unforeseen hairpin twist.
The starry cast is sublime, especially Dillon and Newton in delicately shaded roles that mark them out as strong contenders for end of year awards.
Indeed, it's hard to fault Crash at all - the perfect collision of tour-de-force direction, writing and performance.
See it at UCI, ABC
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