A 36-hour period in the diverse metropolis of post-Sept. 11 Los Angeles is the theme of this unflinching drama that challenges viewers to confront their prejudices. Lives combust when a Brentwood housewife and her D.A. husband, a Persian shopkeeper, two cops, a pair of carjackers and a Korean couple all converge. Director Paul Haggis’s Best Picture Oscar winner stars Sandra Bullock, Brendan Fraser, Don Cheadle, Matt Dillon and Jennifer Esposito.
Recommended in “1001 Films to See Before You Die”, this film seems to be the gold-standard for films that offer multiple seemingly independent threads that ultimately come together before the film ends. Sometimes those relations are a bit forced.
Racial predjudice (and whether it can be overcome) is the theme of the film. I have reviews that rave and reviews that rant about how well this theme is treated. At least it is not a boring film. What I remember most is the heroic car scene with Matt Dillon.
Love, sex and deception rule the day in this psychological drama from director Ray Lawrence. Detective Leon Zat (Anthony LaPaglia) dives headlong into a missing-persons investigation just as he’s grappling with guilt about his extramarital affair. His case crisscrosses the lives of four couples, all of which have secrets — including Leon’s wife, Sonja (Kerry Armstrong), and her secret psychiatrist, Dr. Sommers (Barbara Hershey).
“1001 Films To See Before You Die” points out that this film is very Australian in tone and deed. In fact the actors are Australian. It was the first time we had ever seen Anthony LaPaglia (now appearing in the TV series “Without a Trace”) who is at the center of the film. He was born in Adelaid, South Australia.
The film is a “Crash” film, meaning that many plot threads interweave just as “lantana” is an Australian creeper bush with flowers on top but a mass of sharp, nasty branches underneath.
One detail that I always remember is that LaPaglia has stolen a tape recording of one of his wife’s psychiatry sessions in which the therapist asks her if she loves her husband. He is so guilty about having an affair that he cannot bring himself to listen to the answer. You will have to see the film to hear the answer.
