crashed and burned

Saw CRASH last night (thanks to Miss JT). And definitely I will not disappoint our kafatid na Tatz dahil heto at may mahaba na naman akong nasulat about the film (hay naku, buhay talaga ng nag-iilusyon maging critic!)

Ang una kong ginawa is to count the major players – yong mga above the title ang billing. Narinig ko na kasi dati na parang Chowking halo-halo ang cast nito sa dami. And indeed, there were 10 of them (major pa lang yon ha). And I said to myself, “well this is gonna be a challenge”. Kapag ganito kasing smorgasbord ang casting, expect something to fall wayward – either magulo ang story, mga characters na bigla na lang nawawala and so on and so forth.

To my delight, hindi naman magulo ang film. Mabilis ang pacing, palipat-lipat ang scenes but you can clearly follow. Hindi ka ililigaw. In fact it will guide you through an intricate web of situations apparently happening simultaneously within an area somewhere in the US. (Was it mentioned kung LA or New York yong setting?).

Within the first 10 to 15 minutes you were already presented the 10 characters and the situations they were in. Walang masyadong build-up ng situation, situations were presented as they are. Characters were presented as they are. Clear-cut.

Mula umpisa hanggang bandang ¾ of the film, I thoroughly enjoyed it. Very engaging. Very entertaining. Maganda. But as I said before, expect something to fall wayward. And it happened as the stories are being wrapped up one by one. Nag-umpisang sumabog ang story line. I now understand why many were surprised when it won Best Pic. At tama ka Tatz when you said Brokeback probably lost kasi marami pa ring homophobic sa Oscars. Because the flaws I’ve seen here are more glaring than what I saw in Brokeback!

Here’s why….

It was touted to be a film that tackles racism. A subject that is so sensitive it can send men to the Presidency or make them fall flat on their faces. And so alam ng mga gumawa nito that they are treading very dangerous grounds. One false move and this film can ignite furious protests, bans from ethnic groups they presented in the film, criticism from religious groups, and other serious repercussions. Anything and everything bad for the business.

So how did they manage? Placate whoever they touch. How? The film’s main ploy presented both black and white in equal shades of light. Forget the Chinese, the Latinos or the others. Minority group lang yan. Black and white ang labanan dito. So you were given a black couple (husband and wife) who fell victim to a duo of white cops. But there was also a white couple who got their car jacked by a pair of black thugs. Di ba, balanse agad?

And redemption came too quickly! In less than 24-hours of committing sins against the other race, heto at bumabawi na agad ang mga white cops you hated just a few scenes away. With Matt Dillon’s character heroically risking his life a-la Superman to save the black woman he molested. Parang ganito ang basa ko don sa scene:

Matt’s character: Wag ka nang magalit kung hinipuan kita, ise-save ko naman ang buhay mo.

Black woman : O sige na nga, I will forget the humiliation na pinag-ngangawa ko kagabi. And I will forget na ikaw ang dahilan kung bakit kami nag-away ng jowa ko, and why I drove absent-mindedly and met this accident. Sige, ok lang. Save mo na lang buhay ko!

Duh! And Duh pa ulit!

And don’t forget the neophyte cop, bigyan din sya ng pam-bawi. He’s not a bad white cop afterall. So there he was, the gorgeous Ryan Philippe sticking his neck out for a guy he barely knew. Basta feeling nya kelangan nyang bumawi dahil may atraso sya sa egoy na ito. And his meddling prevented what could have been a deadly encounter between the cops and Terrence Howard’s character.

Who is going through his own vindication himself. Dahil just last night, he cowered under the guns of two policemen kahit hindi naman binunot or tinutok sa kanya and yet hindi sya naka-move to help his wife. “They had guns” sabi nya. Pero heto at buong tapang siyang nakipag-buno sa mga carjacker brandishing a gun into his face. Hindi sya duwag. Not even with guns. Pero teka, did I get it right na he would risk his life for his SUV but not for his wife? Blag-blog pa rin yata yon sa akin. Ano ba talaga, kuya?

And what about the stupid jerk na matandang shop-keeper. Hindi ko na babanggitin ang race nya or religion, baka ma-censor tayo. But this is the most obvious error of all the stories. He shot a 5-year old girl, pointblank and the bullet seem to have a mind of it’s own, avoiding the little girl or even the hefty father holding her. Bakit? Because of the talisman the father gave her a few scenes before? Eh akala ko ba story of real people, lives and real situations itong film. Bakit biglang naging Anting-Anting ni Enteng??? Hindi na lang sana ganoon.

At yong reaction ng tatay nong bata? Tama ba yon, totoong tao ba yon that the little girl you loved so dearly was shot by a looney and you just walk away? Kahit pa walang nangyari sa bata, I would beat the crap out of this fucking jerk for endangering not only my life but most importantly my little girl. Di ba? But hey, for dramatic purposes, hindi ganon ang sabi ng script. Ayaw ni Direk.

At heto pa, para kaawaan mo yong matandang stupid jerk, towards the closure of his story, sinasabi nya sa anak nya na yong little girl daw yong kanyang “angel”. Well the scriptwriter, the director, even the actors should have think twice. Sila ba na naniniwala kay Mohammad ay naniniwala sa Angels? I don’t know pero sa kaluluwa nga di sila naniniwala, sa Angels pa kaya? Wow. The things you do for cinematic effect!

Overkill si Sandra Bullock dito. With a measly 5 scenes throughout the entire film (3 at the first part, 2 towards the end), very obvious na ginamit lang sya for box-office intent. Heck, anybody can play a paranoid, neurotic white wife who “is so so angry but don’t know why”. And anybody can trip down the stairwell!

And so is Brendan Fraser na nahirapan akong tanggapin as the District Attorney because I still see him as George of the Jungle. If this is an attempt to give him more serious roles, dapat sa isang film na mas mahaba where he has the time and part where he can expound on his emotions. Not in a semi-extra role na tulad nito.

I might have reacted violently here, sorry. Pero feeling ko kasi noong first hour and a half ng film, this is something I can rank among my favorites. Only to be let down so badly. Got crashed and burned. Sayang.