Three Oscar Awards for the Paul Haggis movie ‘Crash’

It was an ensemble cast that won Academy Awards for Best Picture, Best Writing on an Original Screenplay and Best Achievement in Film Editing for the film Crash (2004). The challenging issues, character arcs, and story offer a social commentary that can resonate today for those willing to listen.

(From left, Larenz Tate as Peter, a laid-back, good-natured carjacker and Anthony’s partner and Ludacris as Anthony, a violent carjacker and Peter’s partner in the Paul Haggis movie Crash).

Peter and Anthony, portrayed by Larenz Tate and Ludacris, respectively, lead an ensemble cast that examines “Los Angeles citizens with vastly separate lives [that] collide in interweaving stories of race, loss and redemption,” as quoted by the Internet Movie Database. The two see their places in the world differently from the start, and connect with that world in vastly different ways.

(Thandie Newton as Christine Thayer, Cameron’s wife and Matt Dillon as Sgt. John Ryan, a bigoted police officer in the Paul Haggis movie Crash).

Christine Thayer, as portrayed by Thandie Newton, collides in multiple ways with situations in Crash. The places Sgt. John Ryan collides, as portrayed by Matt Dillon, offer a glimpse of multiple layers of commentary in the factors they initiate. The storylines here are powerful and frightening in the provocations internally and externally.

(From left, Jennifer Esposito as Ria, Graham Waters’ partner, Don Cheadle as Detective Graham Waters, an officer investigating recent murders based on racial tensions and Kathleen York as Officer Johnson in the Paul Haggis movie Crash).

The frame of the movie Crash, with writing credits for Bobby Moresco and film director Paul Haggis, physically begins the day after much of the action that is then explained through the course of the film. Introducing Detective Graham Waters with his partner, Ria, at a crime scene with Officer Johnson was a nice touch. Don Cheadle, Jennifer Esposito and Kathleen York play Waters, Ria and Johnson, respectively.

(From left, Ryan Phillippe as Officer Tom Hansen, a rookie policeman and Sgt. John Ryan’s partner and Terrence Howard as Cameron Thayer, a television director and husband to Christine in the Paul Haggis movie Crash).

The stories of Officer Tom Hansen and television director Cameron Thayer become intertwined with a troubling police stop of two people heading home after an awards event in the story of Crash. Hansen and Thayer get caught up in a blatant pattern of troubling behavior that begins in common while throwing four characters into film-long conflict. Ryan Phillippe portrays Hansen as Terrence Howard portrays Thayer.

(From left, Sandra Bullock as Jean Cabot, Rick’s wife, and Brendan Fraser as District Attorney Rick Cabot, Jean’s husband in the Paul Haggis movie Crash).

District Attorney Rick Cabot and his wife Jean, as portrayed by Brendan Fraser and Sandra Bullock, respectively, offer a perspective of wealth and influence at the top of the scale for all characters in Crash. There is love, in a fashion, between the Cabots atop the social ladder that is the object of the critique director Paul Haggis makes with the film. Tune into the feelings shared among those here and their attitudes geared at sharing those attitudes openly.

(From left, Michael Peña as Daniel Ruiz, a Hispanic locksmith and Shaun Toub as Farhad Golzari, a Persian shop owner in the Paul Haggis movie Crash).

Two additional storylines offering the clearest notion of emotional connection for the audience are the stories of the families of Daniel Ruiz and Farhad Golzari, as respectively portrayed by Michael Peña and Shaun Toub. These stories draw in the feelings of parents to children, whereas other storylines look at marital questions, children caring for parents, and the interpersonal connections of social group, immigration status, gender, race and socioeconomic status all in play. Who changes, how they change, and the stressors of one affecting the actions in other places fair game.

(From left, actor Matt Dillon, writer and director Paul Haggis, writer Bobby Moresco and actor Ryan Phillippe on set for the Paul Haggis movie Crash).

The film offers many different looks into tensions in Los Angeles, California where antagonists provoke protagonists in one another’s stories. Many characters intersect into the stories of others, thus asking that characters to serve as both in the context of character types in many cases. The authorial / directorial intent almost hits you over the head, though in service of clear and largely accessible questions for those willing to engage. My rating for Crash lands at 4-stars on a scale of one-to-five.

Matt – Saturday, February 20, 2021

Jamie Foxx and the biographical film of Ray Charles, ‘Ray’

As indicated in his biographical listing on the American online music database All Music, “Ray Charles was the musician most responsible for developing soul music.” The road that led there was not an easy one, whether one hadn’t lost his eyesight at an early age. The movie Ray (2004), starring Jamie Foxx in the role as Ray Charles himself, tells a significant portion of the man’s rise and development of the music on a southern, then American, and ultimately a world stage.

(Sharon Warren as Aretha Robinson, the mother of Ray Charles, in the movie Ray).

The movie, or biographical film, named Ray offers a telling of the first couple of decades of the musical career of musician Ray Charles, who grew up as Ray Charles Robinson. We came to know the musician by his first and middle name to avoid public confusion between the musician and six time world champion boxer Sugar Ray Robinson. An early and important part of the story of the musician was the story of Ray Charles losing his eyesight and his brother as a child. Much of the resonance of that story is told through the relationship Ray Charles had with his mother, Aretha Robinson. Sharon Warren portrayed Aretha Robinson.

(From left, Jamie Foxx as Ray Charles, Kerry Washington as Della Bea Robinson, Tequan Richmond as Ray Charles, Jr. and Harry Lennix as manager Joe Adams in the movie Ray).

Jamie Foxx portrays Ray Charles as an adult throughout Ray. Kerry Washington portrays Della Bea Robinson, the mother of Ray Charles‘ son as well as his wife. After some early career shenanigans leads Ray from Florida to Seattle and a sleazy night club operation, Ray Charles takes up with a white country band that gets him into taking heroin and wearing sunglasses on stage. When Della Bea discovers the heroin habit while pregnant with the couples son, Ray Jr., an argument ensues that leads Ray into the arms and what becomes an intimate relationship with Mary Ann Fisher, portrayed by Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor. Della Bea, the daughter of a preacher, was not thrilled with Ray mixing gospel and soul music.

(From left, Richard Schiff as Atlantic Records‘ Jerry Wexler and Curtis Armstrong as Atlantic Records‘ Ahmet Ertegun in the movie Ray).

It is with the country band and the continuing success of Ray Charles as an individual performer that Atlantic Records signs him to become a part of their publishing house. Jerry Wexler and Ahmet Ertegun, portrayed by Richard Schiff and Curtis Armstrong, respectively, support the early rise of Ray Charles while aiming to at least keep the drug habit somewhat in check during the time of their relationship. The Raelettes come along after Atlantic Records enter the picture.

(From left, Renee Wilson as Pat Lyle, Regina King as Margie Hendricks, Kimberly J. Ardison as Ethel McRae, The Raelettes, Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor as vocalist Mary Ann Fisher, and Jamie Foxx as Ray Charles in the movie Ray).

The Raelettes are named for their support of the evolving act of Ray Charles. The members of the Raelettes were Pat Lyle, Margie Hendricks and Ethel McRae, portrayed in Ray by Renee Wilson, Regina King and Kimberly J. Ardison, respectively. Ray takes an immediate liking to Margie, which leads to an affair and jealousy between Margie and Mary Ann. Ray Charles grants Mary Ann Fisher a solo in this timeframe. Fisher leaves the band after the solo, striking out on her own, with a brick through the windshield of a vehicle ostensibly owned by Ray Charles for good measure. It wouldn’t be long before the success of Ray Charles leads to an amicable split with Atlantic Records as Charles gets a lucrative deal with another record label.

(From left, Ray Charles and Jamie Foxx, who portrayed Ray Charles, in the movie Ray).

The interesting tale of the new label, civil unrest over segregated concerts in Atlanta, Georgia, and Margie’s pregnancy eliciting demands from her that Ray Charles leave Della Bea and their three kids over this. Ray Charles refuses this last demand, is barred from performing in Georgia, and an incident with drug paraphernalia when landing for a concert in Canada leads to court ordered rehabilitation treatment. It’s in the throws of an argument with Della Bea over this that we learn that Margie’s story takes an unexpected turn. It is later that we learn of a pair of positive turns in the Ray Charles story that Ray comes to a close. I leave you to watch the movie to learn the rest.

(From left, Director, producer, and story writer Taylor Hackford and Jamie Foxx on set of the movie Ray).

The movie Ray was well crafted film that proved entertaining to watch with a compelling set of outcomes for the particulars involved. The twists and turns along the way weren’t all flattering, for sure, yet the presentation neither aimed nor landed on salacious. That this was true, with a ring of truth for the larger part of the story and music ringing true, felt like a strong outcome for the man and the music of Ray Charles as anything that might have come along. I rate Ray at 4.0-stars on a scale of one-to-five.

Matt – Saturday, October 3, 2020

Timothy Olyphant, Walton Goggins and Season Two of ‘Justified’

We first introduced you to the FX television series Justified (2010-2015) with our look into the first season in July. Brad Paisley reprises the closing thought of You’ll Never Leave Harlan Alive in bringing the second 13-episode season of this addictive elegy of dysfunctional hillbillies feuding over crime, mining rights for the mountain, and a fleeting sense of a way of life in a community seemingly committed to a violent end. Throw in a sliding moral sense of interpersonal intimacy and trust that complicate definitions of family and friendship, and you have a sense for what season one and season two of Justified have had to offer.

(Erica Tazel as Rachel Brooks, Joelle Carter as Ava Crowder, Nick Searcy as Art Mullen, Timothy Olyphant as Raylan Givens, Walton Goggins as Boyd Crowder, Jacob Pitts as Tim Gutterson and Jere Burns as Wynn Duffy from the television series Justified).

Central to the dysfunctional and blurred lines of friendship and family remains the complicated relationship of almost brothers, almost friends, and almost always murky yet tenuous bond between Boyd Crowder and US Deputy Marshal Raylan Givens. A gunfight at the end of season one cemented the tenuous bond and truce of sorts, which in part contributed to the end of the love interest of Givens Ava Crowder. Ava accepts Boyd into her home, where a complicated family history from the first season of Justified transpired, and led to a complicated transition of feelings between Boyd and Ava explored through the show’s second season. Additionally explored was a backstory for US Deputy Marshal Rachel Brooks and her brother, as well as background introduced for Marshal Tim Gutterson.

(William Ragsdale as Gary Hawkins and Natalie Zea as Winona Hawkins in the television series Justified).

The complicated love triangle between Raylan, the glue to many story lines in Justified, explored the romantic ties and questionable entanglements with the law and each other for Gary Hawkins and Raylan’s ex-wife Winona Hawkins. Winona married Gary before the first season began, yet comes to a place where she questions the emotional priorities of Gary, as she had with Raylan before him. True to the series name, much of these questions are justified, as our the questions Winona also levels at herself through the season. Shenanigans ensue that touch characters Wynn Duffy and US Marshal Art Mullen. The nature of the enlightened perspectives of Duffy and Mullen, while expressed in different circles and levels of justification for sure, offer plenty of interesting fodder for those interested in considering the gray areas of personal ethics that Justified takes pleasure in questioning. Particularly for me, these last two questions seem particularly relevant heading into the next season, as is the question of where Raylan and the Hawkins’ are headed.

(Raymond J. Barry as Arlo Givens, left, and Linda Gehringer as Helen Givens in the television series Justified).

Further glue arises in the relationship of Raylan’s father and aunt, respectively Arlo Givens and Helen Givens. Wishing to hold back spoilers, I offer plenty in saying that either Arlo or Helen take a frightful turn during season two of Justified. The story of these two intersect with Boyd and Ava Crowder, whose story lines echo one another in enough ways to stir some questions.

(Jeremy Davies as Dickie Bennett, left, and Brad William Henke as Coover Bennett in the television series Justified).

The intersection of Boyd and Ava to Arlo and Helen brings season two of Justified to the central story line, which arguably should have come up earlier in the best way to pitch this season. First, who are the Bennetts? Second, what is their concern with Loretta McReady and her father? Finally, where does this leave us as far as the larger drama of the season?

(Joseph Lyle Taylor as Doyle Bennett, left, and Margo Martindale as Mags Bennett in the television series Justified).

Mags Bennett is the matriarch of the Bennett family. The Bennetts and the Givens family have some degree of a feud occurring that dates back generations in Harlan, Kentucky. Doyle Bennett is a police sheriff and arguably the most intelligent of the three sons introduced during the second season of Justified. The other two are Dickie Bennett and Coover Bennett, who lean more towards the criminal enterprise portion of the family business. Of the three sons, Mags favors one child over the other two. Dickie is the screw-up brother while Coover is the brother lacking common sense yet purported to have an aptitude for cultivating marijuana.

(Kaitlyn Dever as Loretta McCready in the television series Justified).

The story of the Bennetts overlaps with Loretta McCready, a 14-year-old girl who faces interpersonal criminal behavior at the hands of members of the Bennett clan. Through the season, Mags warms to Loretta as the daughter she never had. Whether fate plays a fickle or steady hand for the Bennetts regarding the McCready family and Loretta as Loretta struggles to understand the fate of her father through the course of the second season of Justified is plenty of reason to watch the series. I personally am impressed with the second season. My overall grade for season two of Justified is 4.25-stars on a scale of one-to-five.

Matt – Saturday, September 14, 2019