CRASH
A film review by Michael John Legeros
Copyright 1997 Michael John Legeros
(Fine Line) Directed by David Cronenberg Written by David Cronenberg, from the novel by J.G. Ballard Cast James Spader, Holly Hunter, Elias Koteas, Deborah Kara Unger, Rosanna Arquette MPAA Rating "NC-17" (presumably for sex, gore, nudity, etc.) Running Time 100 minutes. Reviewed at The Rialto, Raleigh, NC (21MAR97)
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CRASH is about a bunch of over-sexed Canucks who get their jollies from colliding cars. Yup, it's explicit. Yup, it's vintage David Cronenberg, with all those scars and wounds and reshaped flesh. As a study of sexual fetishes, though, the story needs at least *some* sem- blance of a reality base. (And, perhaps, an explanation of why there are no such things as traffic cops in Canada.) We're thrown into a world of weird people doing weird things and, without even a remote sense of which way is up, it's nearly impossible to get oriented enough to get involved. Winner of a Special Jury Prize at last year's Cannes Film Festival.
Grade: B
Notes =====
CRASH was screened at the Rialto, in Raleigh. We were greeted by the sweet smell of sawdust, from the previous day's installation of a brand-spanking-new screen. And, oh, doesn't that Dolby Digital system sound good on the trailer for SMILLA'S SENSE OF SNOW?
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Mike Legeros - Raleigh, NC, USA, Earth legeros@pagesz.net (h) - legeros@unx.sas.com (w) I'm also on the Web! http://www.pagesz.net/~legeros/
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