Robots are taking over

 I, ROBOT (2004)

Reviewed by Jerry Saravia

Since 1982's cult classic "Blade Runner," the notion dispelled was that robots were more human than humans. Along with 2001's underrated Steven Spielberg film, "A.I.," the other notion was that robots want to become human. "I, Robot" takes the idea even further - robots want to feel human emotions and consider themselves human because their human creators intended it that way.

Set in Chicago, thirty years from now, Will Smith plays Detective Spooner, a brash, motor-mouthed cop who despises robots. You see, in this near-future, robots handle duties and jobs that most humans would have (is this an indication of the migrating U.S. jobs to Mexico, China, etc.?) These robots (who look like walking iPods and have the metallic sheen of iMacs) deliver Federal Express packages, handle household duties, protect humans from harm, throw trash into garbage trucks, and so on. There are the famous Isaac Asimov Laws of Robotics (suggested, not based, on Asimov's book of the same name),

which include that robots protect and never kill humans. As Spooner says, "All rules are made to be broken." The creator of U.S. Robotics, Dr. Landing (James Cromwell), apparently committed suicide, but Spooner knows better. He feels a robot had killed Landing and is now on the run. Spooner receives help from Dr. Susan Calvin (Bridget Moynahan), an employee of U.S. Robotics whose job is to

make these robots look as human as possible. Lo and behold, somebody might have messed with the robots' circuits. The robot fugitive on the run, known as Sonny, feels anger and can mimic human expressions. If he feels anger, he might use it to kill. Or he may just pound his fists on the table.

What "I, Robot" has is a sleek, unique look, and director Alex Proyas ("Dark City") eschews the subterranean look of his earlier pictures for a glossy facade, mainly due to shots of metallic surfaces that emanate a glow from reflective lights. Most scenes are shot in daylight hours, and the city of

Chicago looks more densely populated with skyscrapers, including the ultra-modernist U.S. Robotics building that seems to have an upwards slope. Photographically speaking, the overall effect is of a metallic glow that can be gleaned from every frame. Even Sonny, often shown in profile, seems to be

subtly glowing (understandable when there are Biblical allusions throughout the film) and he seems more real than anyone in the entire film.

As for story and in-depth characters, "I, Robot" falls somewhat short. One too many holes exist in the plot, especially when dealing with the robots and their new and improved counterparts. For instance, if robots are performing menial jobs (instead of illegal aliens or legal workers), what do the humans do for work? We even see one robot bartending! The only available jobs are for robot scientists? Apparently, the city is full of humans, so what the heck do they do for a living?

As for the human characters, we have Will Smith's Spooner who may as well have sprung from both "Bad Boys" and "Men in Black" - he has his share of one-liners, even to a cat! He is mostly an angry man and detests robots (at least his explanation of why he hates them is rather touching) yet loves

listening to Stevie Wonder's "Superstition." Moynahan's good doctor seems more concerned with the future of robots than humans - though intentional to be sure, we never glean much insight from her. And the most underutilized character is Dr. Landing, always shown as a computer image, whose actions are

never clear and quite suspect.

Proyas invested an existential edge in "Dark City," a sort of retro-1940's noir where everyone is at the service of evil aliens in trenchcoats. This time, the familiarity of city life seems corrupted, and humans are hardly the threat of the future anymore. Since Kubrick's "2001," the overriding theme has been that

anything computerized or electronic is not to be trusted. Robots are the threat and they want to take over. The humans are the supporting characters.

"I, Robot" is entertaining and slight, shunning many of the late Asimov's moral themes for high-powered action scenes and sporadic one-liners. Though some useful ideas slip through this typical Hollywood summer blockbuster, one expects Alex Proyas to dig much deeper.

Doctor, can you spare a cure for a vampire?

 HOUSE OF DARK SHADOWS (1970)

Reviewed by Jerry Saravia

An overwrought Gothic soap opera defines Barnabas Collins and the daytime hit TV show "Dark Shadows." Director Dan Curtis took his black-and-white "Young and the Restless"-with-fangs idea and shot it in darkly lit color with very minor bloody scenes. The result is 1970's "House of Dark Shadows" which for once is not a quickie cash-in attempt to make a feature film out of a TV show and has a reasonable fright factor with its foggy, day-for-night scenes outside Collinswood manor and a suitable eerie quality thanks to actor Jonathan Frid as the classy, courtly vampire, Barnabas. Still, his gentlemanly demeanor does not diminish his feeding time. 

The story is a basic reprise of the original concept of the show. Willie (John Karlen), a handyman from the Collins family, decides to break in to the Collins mausoleum and break the chains of a coffin only to reawaken the 200-year-old Barnabas (Willie was apparently looking for precious Collins jewels). Now Willie sort of becomes Barnabas' own Renfield, serving the master at his every whim. Later on, Barnabas pretends to be a cousin of the Collins family as he formally introduces himself to them, though one astute Professor Stokes (Thayer David, the Van Helsing type) senses something is afoot. Meanwhile a couple of women are bitten and become vampires, while a fresh-faced governess named Maggie Evans (Kathryn Leigh Scott) catches Barnabas' eye. She reminds him of his 18th century fiancée, Josette du Pres, and he naturally hopes to be reacquainted. It may take a cure to Barnabas' vampirism to make a marriage and the ability to walk around in daylight hours. Call it a contrivance or pure luck, to some degree, that a certain Dr. Julia Hoffman (Grayson Hall) has discovered how to isolate his vampire cell and weaken it. How is this possible and why only one cell? The questions I thought of when it came to curing vampirism nearly overwhelmed my viewing experience. 

Most of "House of Dark Shadows" is rudimentary vampire lore straight out of the Dracula playbook with only the vampire cure remaining the most original idea. Many scenes end far too abruptly, as if moments of shock and awe as in an emotional response to a vampire attack or the ghostly vision of a female vampire are cut off haphazardly. Still, the film is thickly layered with Gothic Collinswoodsy atmosphere and the sight of Barnabas Collins holds the movie together (the delay of his appearance at the beginning was smart and creepy). Director Dan Curtis, a veteran of TV and film horror (his "Trilogy of Terror" is one of the best TV horror films ever made), shows he can engineer horror and make it somewhat palatable, if still all-too-familiar. Frid's Barnabas remains the milestone it was and still is. 

When King Richard Smacked M.C. Gusto - Oscars unforgivable historic moment

 WHEN KING RICHARD SMACKED M.C. GUSTO...

By Jerry Saravia

I have not commented on the live Oscars telecast in years, partly because I normally don't watch them all the way through. Another reason is because I normally do not see all the nominated films. And yet another is because politics and wokeness (a term I loathed) or maybe just wokeness plays a part in who wins. This wasn't always the case considering spectacularly great films like "Unforgiven" and "The Silence of the Lambs" won and the latter was not what we could call today "woke." Of all the Oscar telecasts I have seen in 45 plus years, this 2022 Oscars telecast has to got to be the most insane and the most unforgiving. 

As you all know by now, comedian Chris Rock was on stage presenting the Best Documentary Award and he quickly made a joke that Will Smith's wife Jada Pinkett Smith looks primed to appear in "G.I. Jane 2." Jada has alopecia, a hair loss condition that leaves you permanently bald. She looked remarkable with her green dress regardless of having hair or not. This was a simple joke and we saw one camera angle where Will Smith was smiling as the quip was delivered with Jada rolling her eyes. Within half a second, Will Smith got up from his chair, approached the front stage and smacked Chris Rock, and what appeared to be a simulation or a staged event leading to maybe a punchline was clearly not. The moment was shrouded in complete silence when Will Smith was bleeped for telling Chris Rock to keep his mouth shut when it comes to joking about his wife. Chris Rock did not appear to be anything but shocked and somehow continued with the evening - a true professional, but to what end? What if Will Smith punched him hard enough to knock out Chris Rock? It could have happened and I suppose nobody considered it. Should we applaud Will Smith for showing restraint by not knocking Chris out or throwing a chair on stage? Do we reward Will Smith for not taking his quick temper too far? 

These are all valid questions and it is all I thought about while watching the Oscars. Will Smith's Best Actor win for "King Richard" could have been a career highlight to savor (there are still very few black actors that have won the coveted Best Actor Oscar in what is coming to close to a century since the first telecast) but his speech was submerged in tension after that incident and not applaud worthy as he tried to make amends yet with no apparent apology to Chris Rock. In fact, it was impossible to enjoy the Oscars after that (and it finished at 11:30 pm which is decent timing for once). The whole evening soured after this incident. Unforgiving.

I came into the live telecast of the Oscars rather late because I had forgotten they were even airing. I caught the terrific James Bond 60th anniversary montage and decided to keep watching. I was hoping for "Licorice Pizza" to win because it is one of the finest films about adolescence I have ever seen (have not seen "Coda" yet and "Power of the Dog" was a good but not a great film). When I heard Chris Rock was getting ready to present an Oscar, I got nervous as I always do when he comes on because he is honest and doesn't shy away from saying provocative things (check out his SNL hosting gigs in the past - you can hear the audience nervously laughing). Who could have expected this debacle? Not me except I heard no nervous laughter during it.  

This was the first time there was an actual assault at the Oscars though there were a couple of times in Oscars past history where an assault was looming or implied. According to Sacheen Littlefeather, an Apache woman who was told by Marlon Brando to not accept his Oscar on stage for his role in "The Godfather," she was about to be physically assaulted by tough guy John Wayne for her comments about the exploitative treatment of American Indians in Hollywood movies. Naturally, this physical assault did not occur but it gives one pause to think what might have happened had six security guards not restrained John Wayne. 

This other example is a cheat because it did not happen at the Oscars but it is still a good example of a threat made against someone else, again with no actual physical assault. Clint Eastwood had previously threatened rabble rouser documentary filmmaker Michael Moore's life during the National Board of Review Awards dinner where "Million Dollar Baby" was receiving acclaim. Eastwood spoke from the stage and said the following: "Michael Moore and I actually have a lot in common. We both appreciate living in a country where there's free expression. But, Michael, if you ever show up at my front door with a camera, I'll kill you." Moore thought Clint was joking but then the legend said yet again, "I mean it. I'll shoot you." The audience got quiet real fast, not unlike the Will Smith shouting-obscenities-moment at Chris Rock. Moore wrote about the incident and said: "I tried to keep that fake smile on my face so as to appear as if he hadn't 'gotten' to me. But he had. I then mumbled to those sitting at my table. 'I think Dirty Harry just said, "Make my day, punk.''' Incidentally, at the Oscars back in 2003, someone backstage was furious at Michael Moore's anti-war acceptance speech after receiving the gold statue for "Bowling for Columbine." Moore said about the evening after the curtains went down: "All of a sudden stagehands were coming at me. Security quickly surrounded me to protect me. One stagehand broke through and went right up in my ear and shouted, 'Asshole!'" 

Twitter went aflutter with the John Wayne business, some bringing it up as a notorious example while defending Will Smith. Except the Wayne incident never materialized into a physical assault. Will Smith slapping Chris Rock was real and violent, how could it not be seen as a physical attack? What will comedians do in the future when they appear at the Oscars? Will have they have two security guards for every comedian just in case the offended person rises from their chair? "In this business, you gotta be able to have people disrespecting you and you gotta smile and you gotta pretend like that‘s OK," said Will Smith during his Best Actor Oscar acceptance speech. That is the nature of Hollywood and everyone else that attends a stand-up comedy show or a glitzy awards show where a provocative comedian may pop up. Will Smith should have taken heed of his own advice.

Irish Luckless Lad forgotten by history

 BARRY LYNDON (1975)

Reviewed by Jerry Saravia

"Barry Lyndon" is a costume drama film to watch with untethered expectations. It is too dreamlike and tragic to be compared to anything akin to "Tom Jones," and too remote in its characterizations for anyone in the audience expecting anything other than pity. That does not make Stanley Kubrick's 3 hour extravagant epic soulless or without interest, only it is more interested in showing the effects that a young fool with social mobility has on the upper class. "Barry Lyndon" is strange and unique for its opaque nature and yet it does nakedly show the restraints of the upper class society on its denizens including Barry Lyndon.

The very modern Ryan O'Neal is an odd choice to play the luckless Redmond Barry, an 18th century Irish lad from a poor farm family yet he manages to make this impudent young man come alive. His world is mostly living in a shack with his mother and plenty of animals and firewood. There is the potential of a romance with his teasing older cousin Nora (Gay Hamilton), though she only sees him as a lad. She is more smitten with the charismatic English officer Captain John Quin (Leonard Rossiter, one of two actors to bring humor to his textured role) and Barry can't take it - it is here where we learn that Barry wants to be cultured, wants wealth and to seen as a gentleman of some importance. He has no idea how he will do it but you sense from his naivete and his luckless nature of being a deserter that he just might make it. Kubrick often frames Barry on a horse or walking in fields that run for miles by isolating him, often barricaded by rock formations as if his doomed path is being laid out for him. After a duel with Captain John Quin where naive Barry believes he has killed the captain, Barry flees for Dublin only to come across highwaymen (thieves to the rest of you) and loses his guineas given to him by his mother. 

Eventually, Redmond Barry ends up back on the beautifully lit countryside and mountainous dirt roads, becoming an English military officer and fighting the Seven Years' War. Barry also becomes a Prussian officer under duress for impersonating an altogether different English officer (that's a fascinating, humorous, ironic section that is best discovered rather than explained) and then he progresses to become a spy for the Prussian police. The Ministry of Police want him to investigate a fellow Irish gambler named Chevalier de Balibari (Patrick Magee) who may or may not be a spy for the Austrians. Barry lets his guard down and protects the Chevalier as they flee Prussia and start gambling with various players, the social strata of scams clearly being those who are wealthy. Thus we get to the late introduction of the very wealthy Lady Lyndon (Marisa Berenson) whom Barry is attracted to almost immediately and courts her to eventual marriage (well, his attraction is primarily to her wealth). Lady Lyndon's son, Lord Bullingdon (Dominic Savage as the young tempestuous Lord and Leon Vitali as the adult version) hates Barry and knows he is after his mother's money and nothing more. Tragedy ensues, especially with Barry giving Lady a son of their own who loves horses and war stories. Some humor is derived from David Morley as the son, Bryan Patrick Lyndon, who in one hysterically funny scene walks with oversized shoes that create a lot of noise.

Based on William Makepeace Thackeray's serialized novel, "Barry Lyndon" is a sumptuous feast for the eyes and ears, a miraculous film that looks like it was filmed in the late 18th century (amazingly gorgeous cinematography by John Alcott). The richness of the locations in Ireland and elsewhere in the UK along with grayish, partially cloudy skies mirror  the still lives you would find in paintings, and they add immeasurably to the feeling of authenticity in addition to scenes shot by candlelight using special NASA lenses so that little to no fill light was needed (the gambling sequence with Lady Lyndon and Barry is one of many titillating, absorbing sequences in the film that is guaranteed to stop time). The story of the luckless Barry Lyndon is a case of a lad who is still a lad by nature at the end of the film. Ryan O'Neal captures Barry's insolence and his intelligence at knowing how to scam people - he learns it slowly as when he impersonates an English officer and has an affair with a German woman waiting for her husband to return from war. Slowly we see a man who becomes more than insolent - he becomes a bastard who cheats and embarrasses his wife Lyndon with little to no remorse. We don't understand what makes Barry tick other than his dreams of being someone he has no right to be - privileged and a gentleman who spends money unwisely. He has privilege but he is no gentleman and we feel sympathy for him when his own son dies, and when he refuses to fire his pistol at his stepson during a duel. Then he loses a leg thanks to his stepson who returns fire during the duel; thus Barry becomes a recluse who can live with his mother (played by a snappy and fierce Marie Kean) both of whom are financially supported by Lady Lyndon.   

Of all of Stanley Kubrick's films, "Barry Lyndon" is his least accessible to the average audience if only because the emotions of its characters are frustratingly closed-off yet anger and violence are always on full display (for example, Barry whips Lord Bullingdon twice and fights him to the horror of family members and others during Lady Lyndon's piano recital. Then there are the duels, fencing, war and bareknuckle fights). Barry is full of lust for other women and leaves Lady Lyndon in the dust yet we start to feel that he knows he has erred in his ways. This is not an easy film to digest the first time around yet it is a spellbinding and masterful film from first shot to last. The biggest ironic shock to "Barry Lyndon" is that Redmond Barry is not just a footnote in history - he is an Irish lad who is simply and understandably forgotten by history. 

Memorable western leaves us indifferent

 THE POWER OF THE DOG (2021)

Reviewed by Jerry Saravia

There are so many arresting, haunting images in Jane Campion's "The Power of the Dog," a western by nature that elicits the repression in many of its characters in 1920's Montana. Many of these characters have something to uncover, some aspect about themselves they want to let loose and they can't or won't. That is at its heart what works best in "The Power of the Dog" but, as it progressively unfolds, I began to feel somewhat adrift by them. 

Phil is the rough and ready cowboy (Benedict Cumberbatch, in a fantastically sublime performance), complete with chaps, who has his fellow cowhands on his brother's ranch gathering cattle. The hides are frequently burned by Phil and he is one to get angered by the good times and cheer of local residents because he has something to prove - a manliness so that he appears to be one of the boys. Phil's brother, George (Jesse Plemons, also sublime in his restraint), is the wealthy owner of the ranch who is reticent and repressed beyond belief. Phil can't stand it and tries to push George out of his shell, relentlessly calling him "fatso." Somewhere close in the gray Montana hills is a widowed inn owner, Rose (Kirsten Dunst), who hates Phil and Phil himself isn't too fond of her either. George, however, is smitten with Rose and marries her on a whim, especially after helping her feed the locals. Their marriage doesn't make much sense and as the story develops, it makes even less sense. Rose starts drinking heavily and George is barely around. All Rose has is her son Peter (a truly hypnotic and almost emaciated-looking Kodi Smit-McPhee) who is clearly gay and all the cowboys in the area mock him by whistling at him and calling him the expected homophobic slurs. Peter walks around in white shoes and a white hat and clearly stands out from the rest and he's frequently shown in contrast to those Montana mountains, definitely out of place.

The central focus in "The Power of the Dog" (based on a very personal book by Thomas Savage) is Phil's own mixed emotions about George and his wife, and the attachment he starts to feel towards Peter. Phil berates Rose especially when she tries to play the Radetzky March on the piano while he mimics the notes on his banjo. Ultimately, whether Phil feels sorry or not about Rose's alcoholism or ability to get out of bed, he is more aware of Peter and their relationship (though never sexual though the overtones are self-evident like sharing a cigarette or firmly grabbing hold of a lasso) becomes the backbone of a time where any mutual feelings could not be expressed (unlike the more modern western about gay cowboys, the brilliant "Brokeback Mountain"). Here, everything is muted and director Campion beautifully lays out the metaphors without calling too much attention to them. 

As memorably acted and exquisitely directed as "The Power of the Dog" is, the film somehow cast an emptiness in me (the same holds true of Campion's "The Piano" though not with her best work, "An Angel at My Table"). I just didn't feel the sense of loss when one significant character dies towards the end - it just occurs without any real tangible emotion. It isn't a detriment to the film but it prevents it from making us feel fulfilled within ourselves as to how the people in this land have the power to move on and recuperate. "Power of the Dog" casts a spell for sure yet I felt adrift and indifferent by the film's finish, as if all those bottled emotions continued to be bottled up not just in the characters (as expected considering the time and place) but within our perception of them as well.  

Second Joshua Tree leads to soulless world

 HIGHWAY TO HELL (1991)

Reviewed by Jerry Saravia

There is a creative, original concept at work here. A young kid and his girlfriend (Chad Lowe, Kristy Swanson) are going to Vegas to get hitched. An older, lonely gas station owner (Richard Farnsworth) warns the couple about one of the Joshua trees on the highway to Vegas. Somehow the couple drives too fast, alerts someone named Hellcop, a scarred cop with facial tattoos from literally Hell, who wants the kid's girlfriend (she's virginal, aren't they always in these movies). A portal opens up which can only be opened by driving fast from one Joshua tree to the other. So far, there is much potential here for a hell-on-wheels demonic ride of a movie that aims to be a horror comedy version of the Orpheus legend. Maybe we should all read Orpheus instead.

Once we arrive in Hell, it looks like a dusty ride through John Ford country. Or maybe more like a Mad Max variation complete with biker gangs. There is also a diner frequented by lost souls (some of whom are played by the Stiller family, including Ben himself who fries meat on the volcanically hot cement). The Lowe kid chases Hellcop who has his girlfriend handcuffed by actual hands! Car chases ensue, one after another, though they are barely exciting or staged well.  

So what else happens in this movie? Not much I am afraid. Lowe's car can't get started and he calls for help at an emergency phone! I am glad to know Hell comes equipped with emergency phones. Patrick Bergin shows up as a mechanic named Beezel (need I say more?) There are some funny sight gags like the image of a giant restaurant mascot of a man holding a rifle. I also like the Good Intentions Road Paver company, essentially a conveyor belt which chops up the bodies of people who did immoral things on Earth. After a while, those bits stand out more than the characters who are colorless at best (Patrick Bergin is fantastic, though, in easily the only noteworthy performance in the movie).

"Highway to Hell" bares the slightest resemblance to the Greek tragedy of Orpheus on the surface level. Most of the movie is meant to be a horror comedy but there isn't much horror (other than the Devil, and a succubus with sagging breasts) and the humor only works sporadically. Hellcop and the couple are a bore to watch and the movie becomes increasingly intolerable to sit through. The hell with this stinky movie.

Racism as a contact sport

 CRASH (2005)
Reviewed by Jerry Saravia

Racism in America is prevalent. Racism in L.A. is just as prevalent. "Crash" is a movie that attempts to explore the racial attitudes and stereotypes of L.A., though it is a credit to writer-director Paul Haggis that he assumes the race card is played in every city.

"Crash" has a mosaic, Altmanesque narrative, which means it is only fitting to describe the characters and their actions since the movie defines them that way. Matt Dillon is a racist veteran cop, Ryan, who pulls over a light-skinned black couple (played by Terrence Howard and Thandiwe Newton) for performing fellatio. It leads to a cringe-inducing scene where Jack humiliates the wife while the husband stands there, powerless and just as humiliated. This couple's relationship is now fraught with tension and fruitless arguments - one assuming they know more about being black in America than

the other. Howard is a TV director who faces subtle racism from a white producer (Tony Danza in what may be the best performance he's ever given). Lo and behold, Newton's character has a confrontation with Ryan that is truly incendiary.

In addition, we have a Hispanic locksmith (Michael Pena) who is accused of being a thief by an Iranian store owner (Shaun Toub) and by an acrid woman, Jean (Sandra Bullock), who happens to be the wife of the D.A. (Brendan Fraser). Of course, the locksmith is a family man who is only doing his job and

Jean has just been carjacked, the latter being the least congenial person in the world. There is also a police detective, Graham (Don Cheadle), who has a drug user for a mom and a troublesome brother loose in the streets. Graham is romantically involved with his partner, Ria (Jennifer Esposito), a Latina, though he remarks that she represents a mix of Latino and Hispanic cultures who always park their cars on the lawn. Hip-hop artist Ludacris plays one of the carjackers who teaches his partner in crime (Larenz Tate) about the state of black people in this country, and how whites are in fear of blacks (they put this theory to the test).

"Crash" is an expose of multi-racial attitudes in a city where everything is based on race, color and creed. Not a single conversation in this film ever revolves around anything but race. Some critics have labeled this film as liberal propaganda, others have deemed it unrealistic. I understand the latter's

criticism because in real life, people probably don't spend half as much time discussing racism as they do discussing what's for dinner. But Paul Haggis's film is not about reality but about a reality probably taking place in our heads. Racism does exist and there are white racist cops out there, not to mention carjackings every day of the week. We should not be quick to forget that racism abounds and affects all. I would add that I think racism is often not discussed or blatantly used, but it is more often implied.

I admire Paul Haggis's attempt to define a growing and relevant issue. I especially like the theme summed up by Graham that people want to crash into each other to get some human contact. The reservation I have is that the film is often overwrought with epiphanies every few minutes. A character is often shown to be the reverse of what they really are, thus enduring a karmic kick in the cojones that amplifies an emotional/behavioral renaissance. Sometimes it is believable, other times it stretches

even the credibility of this film's reality. When Bullock's Jean finally shows some level of remorse despite her bitterness towards everyone, we sense that this shift in behavior is abrupt because the moment is too brief to stick. When it happens to Dillon's Ryan during a freeway car accident, it is emotionally wrenching. More often than not, "Crash" needed a little tweaking in the subtlety department - not every emotion has to resonate with exclamation points.

In terms of casting, this ensemble is about as good as it gets. Matt Dillon shows more flair than he has in years. Ditto Sandra Bullock - one too many fluffy comedies can give people amnesia as to what a crackling actress she once was. Ludacris is every bit as electrifying as he was in "Hustle and Flow," plus he possesses a good knack for humor. Terrence Howard and Thandiwe Newton make a believable couple, as does Don Cheadle and Jennifer Esposito. Ryan Phillippe is astoundingly good as a cop who is not at all what he seems. And for the icing in the cake, there's a dynamic cameo by Keith

David as a police lieutenant who sums up racism in the police department with a single blow to the gulliver. In short, you can't ask for a better cast.

"Crash" is a heedless melodrama that could've been longer than its 105 minute running time - there are too many characters with not enough meat and potatoes. It is more of a sentimental sermon than a movie with moments that scream bluntness at every level (Imagine what Spike Lee could've done with this). Still, it has an accommodating cast and enough rich irony to warrant much discussion after it is over.