This film is the directorial debut of Paul Haggis, the writer of MILLION DOLLAR BABY. It takes a very Robert Altman approach to race relations in L.A.
Graham Waters (Don Cheadle, HOTEL RWANDA) is a homicide detective that is involved in the murder of a black cop by a white cop. He’s dating his partner Ria (Jennifer Esposito, MADE), who doesn’t like how Water treats his mother (Beverly Todd, LEAN ON ME) and how he’s flippant about her race. However, she doesn’t know the whole story.
That is a key point throughout the film — we make judgments about people without knowing all the facts. Sometimes we’re right, but sometimes we’re horribly wrong. After being car jacked, D.A. Rick Cabot (Brendan Fraser, GODS & MONSTERS) and his wife Jean (Sandra Bullock, SPEED) are scared. Jean is scared of being attacked again, taking her frustration out on locksmith Daniel (Michael Pena, MILLION DOLLAR BABY), whose tattoos mask the fact that he’s a sensitive family man with a daughter named Lara (Ashlyn Sanchez, film debut). Rick is scared of the political fall-out of the car jackers being black.
Sgt. Ryan (Matt Dillion, WILD THINGS) is a veteran cop, who is judgmental and racist. His young partner Hanson (Ryan Phillippe, CRUEL INTENTIONS) is appalled by Ryan’s behavior, especially during a traffic stop of rich black couple — Cameron (Terrence Dashon Howard, RAY) and Christine (Thandie Newton, MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE II). The incident puts a major strain on their marriage. Ryan’s racism comes back to haunt him when dealing with HMO employee Shaniqua Johnson (Loretta Devine, I AM SAM).
Other characters include two young, smart black men named Peter (Larenz Tate, MENACE 2 SOCIETY) and Anthony (Chris “Ludacris” Bridges, 2 FAST 2 FURIOUS), paranoid Persian shop owner Farhad (Shaun Toub, MARYAM) and his daughter Dorri (Bahar Soomekh, INTERMISSION), a DA with questionable motives named Jake Flanagan (William Fichtner, EQUALIBRIUM), shady TV producer Fred (Tony Danza, TV’s WHO’S THE BOSS?), Ryan and Hanson’s supervisor Lt. Dixon (Keith David, PLATOON), Rick’s black assistant Karen (Nona Gaye, THE MATRIX REVOLUTIONS), mysterious Asian couple Ken Ho (Greg Joung Park, DEAD MEN CAN’T DANCE) and Kim Lee (Alexis Rhee, THE VISIT) and the Cabot’s maid Maria (Yomi Perry, TV’s DARK HOLIDAY).
My only complaint with the film is that it tries to pack too much into only 113 minutes. There were additional moments with the characters that I wish I had seen. However, the film is still an extremely intelligent and observed film. The film can be ironic, touching, funny and sad all in the same scene.
The acting from the entire cast is first rate. Cheadle is as always at the top of his game. Bullock and Phillippe turn in surprising performances. I really wanted more of the Bullock character. Dillion gives the best performance in the film. His character has the kind of racism that comes more from his own failed dreams than from outright hate.
The film has a slow burn to it. It says and presents so much that you have to let it sink in afterward. Because most of the film takes place in my backyard, I may be a little biased, but I think the themes and attitudes are representative of the nation as a whole. If there are scenes that were cut, I’d like to see them. I give this a very tentative 3 1/2 stars. A director’s cut or even a second viewing may persuade me to four stars. The film is deceptive and powerful.
Rick DeMott
Animation World Network
Creator of Rick's Flicks Picks
