Crash: A Modern Day Melodrama?

"Bigotry as the Outer Side of Inner Angst". By A.O. Scott The New York Times, May 6, 2005.

The look of these movies and the rough authenticity of their locations create an atmosphere of naturalism that is meant to give force to their rigorously pessimistic view of American life….

[these movies] have the dense texture and sober discipline that we associate with realism. But to classify these movies as realistic would be misleading, as the stories they tell are, in nearly every respect, preposterous, and they tend to be governed less by the spirit of observation than by superstition.

But in approaching "Crash," we should be more than usually cautious about mistaking its inhabitants - residents of Los Angeles of various hues, temperaments and occupations - for actual human beings.