Crash is quite possibly the best film on racism I’ve ever seen. And yet, it could have been better. In an age when heavy-handedness is the greatest faux pas possible, many movies push towards subtlety and even off into obscurity. Crash falls off that same cliff. The film creates some great conflicts and ask some great questions, but stops short of providing any real answers or solutions. There is quite a bit hinted at, but its extreme in subtlety simply amounts to weakness.

It’s amusing that, as subtle as Crash is in its conclusions, it’s anything but in its theme. Every single character in the film – and there are a lot – is either racist or the victim of racism, and most characters are both. Crash suffers greatly from its sheer quantity of characters and storylines, and would have been much better off with fewer, more developed characters and storylines. This is a good film that really could have been great.

***Spoilers***

Jean Cabot (Sandra Bullock) is the rich, self-centered wife of the District Attorney (Brendan Fraser) who is rude to her Hispanic housekeeper, suspicious of the Hispanic locksmith, and angry at the black men who stole her car. What’s more, she’s angry that others make her feel guilty for being wary around black people, when she clearly has reason to – as evinced by her carjack. This is a great, complex conflict that’s worth looking into. But Crash does nothing with it. She sprains her ankle and, in a moment of loss and unhappiness, realizes she’s alienated everyone in her life besides her Hispanic housekeeper. Is there, perhaps, some karma in her needs to rely emotionally on the lowly Hispanic when she, affirmed in her whiteness and affluence, has everything she needs? I don’t know. But if this is supposed to be a conflict resolution, it’s weak. The story of Jean Cabot remains unfinished.

Another story follows the two black hijackers, Anthony (Chris "Ludacris" Bridges) and Peter (Larenz Tate). Anthony is convinced that the Man is out to get him and is angry that others are scared by his presence – even as he steals another’s car. Again, this is a great character. He feels victimized by his race, and yet he feels justified in the actions which further the negative stereotypes of his race. But again, Anthony’s story goes unfinished. He is humbled after nearly killing an Asian man and then again after attempting to carjack another black man, Cameron (Terrence Dashon Howard), but getting schooled in the attempt. Anthony’s climax comes when he is angered by his superior’s decision to sell a group of Vietnamese children on the black market, and inexplicably manages to save the children. Has Anthony suddenly discovered that some have it worse than him? Perhaps, but saving children from slavery is long ways from actually addressing the complex issues that beset Anthony.

Cameron has had his own race problems to deal with, most notably the improper conduct of a Police Officer Ryan (Matt Dillon) towards his wife Christine (Thandie Newton). His wife is angry that he didn’t stand up to the policeman who abused her, and despite her affluence, feels victimized by her race. Cameron, generally calm and collected, apparently had been letting it build up inside as he eventually goes ballistic on the police. His reconciliation with his wife suggests that he has overcome his passivity and vowed to stand by his wife against racism. But this is weak. Certainly, acting like an animal is not the solution to the problem, and we are given no evidence that Cameron has actually come to terms with any problem at all.

Officer Ryan has his problems as well. His own racism towards the black secretary (Loretta Devine) is a factor in his inability to get proper treatment for his ailing father. In a heavier storyline, after Ryan abuses Christine in a pull-over, he later discovers he must risk his own life to save hers in an accident. His willingness to put his life on the line to save hers humbles her and himself as well. Though I think this storyline is also somewhat incomplete, it’s one of the ones I like best – because the characters come to a point where they really do see the humanity in each other. Christine’s love/hate conflict for the man who both abused her and saved her life so willingly is fascinating but receives little treatment.

Officer Ryan’s partner, Officer Hanson (Ryan Phillippe) is troubled by Ryan’s racism. He tries to address the problem, but because of office politics, he isn’t listened to – by a black man no less. He appears to feel guilty for doing nothing during the abuse by his partner, but redeems himself by defending Cameron when he refuses to listen to the police in a scuffle. Seemingly now a hero in defense of the black man, Hanson later gives Peter, one of the two carjackers, a ride and shoots the boy when he perceives a threat – later to discover there was no threat after all. Was it Hanson’s underlying racism that led to his quickness on the trigger? That seems to be the suggestion, but it’s problematic. I don’t see any reason to believe that Hanson’s fear was motivated by race, but it’s possible.

The death of Peter is troublesome for his family, particularly his brother, Detective Graham Waters (Don Cheadle), who was under pressure from his mother to find Peter because of the trouble he had gotten himself into. Waters has racial problems of his own. He works and sleeps with a Hispanic woman (Jennifer Esposito) but appears to think less of Hispanics. He is also involved with a difficult case wherein a white cop has shot a black one. An accident, it seems, except that this is the third black man he has shot. The department wants to nail the cop, but Waters is in the strange position of believing the shooting is justified. I’m not sure what Waters’ storyline adds to the story except another difficult case of racism, judgmentalism, and karma. Water’s deals with racism himself, is racist towards others, and has a brother who has been killed for what was possibly a racist mindset.

The nurse who deals with Peter and his family is Persian, and so receives negative attention because so many believe her and her family to be Arab. I’m not sure what the difference between Persian and Arab is either, but apparently it’s significant enough that the family is offended by it. Their offense is particularly directed at their treatment by some as terrorist though. The nurses father, Farhad (Shaun Toub) is the recipient of a great deal of racism, particularly in the destruction of his shop by vandals. Farhad cannot get insurance out of the vandalism, however, because he refused to listen to a Hispanic locksmith, Daniel (Michael Pena), who tells Farhad he needs a new door. I’m not sure that Farhad’s refusal of Daniel’s warning was so much an issue of race as it was his pure insanity, but it appears that racism is the issue. Thus, we have another character who is both a victim and a victimizer. I like this victim/victimizer idea that’s being pushed because of its startling revelation that we are to blame as much as those we blame. But I’m not convinced Farhad has learned this lesson, which would have been much more effective.

Daniel must deal with racism from Farhad, as well as Jean Cabot, who believes he is going to give keys to his friends. The subject of the most blatant racism, Daniel is one of the few who appears free of it himself. A story related to his daughter and a threat from Farhad is tender, but does nothing to advance the conversation except on behalf of Farhad. I’m not sure what we’re supposed to come away with from Daniel’s story with his daughter for their own part.

Though we’re never really clear on where the characters end up or that any of them have been touched by their own racism, I do think the sum of them add up to something important. Though the individual threads are quite vague, the combination of them create a powerful, emotive message. Just as the characters create a cycle in their interaction, so racism is a cycle in its perpetuation from one person to another. And that’s one cycle that will not stop unless with us.