# Crash -- Deserving of Best Picture? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 6, 2006, 5:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/crash-deserving-of-best-picture/347223 "2006-03-06T05:04:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Rodgers01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b19c9b/32.png) [@Rodgers01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rodgers01)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2006, 5:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/crash-deserving-of-best-picture/347223/1 "2006-03-06T05:04:06Z")
Since the general Oscar thread is already at 7+ pages, I think this topic might deserve its own place. So – “Crash” wins Best Picture. Did it deserve it? If not, what should have won? ---
**Author:** ![Rodgers01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b19c9b/32.png) [@Rodgers01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rodgers01)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2006, 5:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/crash-deserving-of-best-picture/347223/2 "2006-03-06T05:08:46Z")
Roger Ebert picked it as his best picture (I find I’m always quoting Roger Ebert…) and he got a lot of flack for it. To start the discussion, if no one minds, here in full is his response to the criticism: [link](http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060219/COMMENTARY/60217001&template=printart) ‘Crash’ owes a debt to Dickens BY ROGER EBERT Film Critic / ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2006, 5:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/crash-deserving-of-best-picture/347223/3 "2006-03-06T05:13:33Z")
I do not think Crash should have won. It was good but not that good. While I appreciate what the movie was attempting to show I found it a bit heavy handed in its approach which took it down from a potentially great movie to a “merely” good one. What should have won? I cannot say with authority as I have not seen all that were nominated but any of those I did see I thought were better (I did not see Walk the Line or Capote). ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2006, 5:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/crash-deserving-of-best-picture/347223/4 "2006-03-06T05:29:23Z")
Heck, I’ll say it. Serenity was the best picture of last year. So, no, Crash was not fully deserved of Best Picture. ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2006, 5:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/crash-deserving-of-best-picture/347223/5 "2006-03-06T05:32:33Z")
No. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2006, 5:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/crash-deserving-of-best-picture/347223/6 "2006-03-06T05:42:01Z")
Thanks for putting an Oscar spoiler in the title, guys. ---
**Author:** ![dnooman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/839c29/32.png) [@dnooman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dnooman)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2006, 5:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/crash-deserving-of-best-picture/347223/7 "2006-03-06T05:44:47Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#): > > Heck, I’ll say it. > > Serenity was the best picture of last year. > > So, no, Crash was not fully deserved of Best Picture. Serenity was good, pretty good. It was the film that you liked most from 2005. If you seriously think it deserved the best picture award, stop watching the academy awards because you’ll be seriously disappointed. I went to a movie theater that serves food and beer to meet a friend. We were at the box office/candy counter/bar for maybe ten minutes. I think I saw the part where Ludacris and Matt Dillon were interacting. I thought, damn I gotta see that movie. I thought Crash exposed common racial prejudices that some people might not recognize, and also highlighted the fact that many people are not great communicators. I think that those that hate this movie hate it’s themes more than it’s presentation. The intertwining plot was great without being too obtuse. Not my favorite movie ever, but worth a viewing to be sure. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2006, 5:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/crash-deserving-of-best-picture/347223/8 "2006-03-06T05:55:20Z")
I liked the movie pretty well. Liked a lot of the performances and individual scenes. I really liked the locksmith’s storyline. The coincidences didn’t bother me. I didn’t find it heavy handed. I thought it was a very good movie. I just thought that there were at least three other nominated films that were better. ---
**Author:** ![marymargaret](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@marymargaret](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/marymargaret)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2006, 5:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/crash-deserving-of-best-picture/347223/9 "2006-03-06T05:56:36Z")
I thought it deserved it. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2006, 5:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/crash-deserving-of-best-picture/347223/10 "2006-03-06T05:58:32Z")
To quote Simon Cowell, “I thought it was distinctly average”. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2006, 6:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/crash-deserving-of-best-picture/347223/11 "2006-03-06T06:00:13Z")
_Crash_ was the only Best Picture nominee I saw this year (I did so much better last year - living 15 minutes away from an 18-screen movie theatre has its advantages). So I can’t say that I know it was the best movie. What I will say is that in spite of its flaws, I thought _Crash_ was very good. Yes, the plot was contrived as hell, and yes, sometimes the movie’s sense of its own importance slowed it down. I was very impressed that it worked and kept me emotionally engaged in spite of those things. ---
**Author:** ![El\_Kabong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/el_kabong/32/496_2.png) [@El\_Kabong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Kabong)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2006, 6:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/crash-deserving-of-best-picture/347223/12 "2006-03-06T06:15:33Z")
This seemed to be a bog-standard, safe Academy pick: earnest and worthy mainstream drama with a little flash but not too many surprises or quirks. I’m sure it didn’t hurt that its subject is a milieu familiar, one presumes, to many Academy members. In fact, I don’t hate _Crash_, but there are at least two flicks I can think of that weren’t nominated that I considered much better: _Syriana_ and _The Constant Gardener_. Likewise, the voters seem not to have noticed that this film has been done several times before, as _Grand Canyon_, _The Player_ and _Magnolia_. Of the nominated films, the only other one I’ve seen so far is _Munich_, and although I liked the performances in that film, just about everything else about it left me cold. Without having seen anything but clips, both _Capote_ and _Good Night and Good Luck_ looked like far more interesting films in both subject and style. Ang Lee is a director I like, and _Brokeback_ may indeed be much more than the twist in its love story, but I’ll reserve any judgement until I’ve actually seen it. ---
**Author:** ![fusoya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ecccb3/32.png) [@fusoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fusoya)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2006, 6:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/crash-deserving-of-best-picture/347223/13 "2006-03-06T06:16:35Z")
I’ve been saying it since I saw the movie this summer - Crash will win best picture of 2005. It was my #1 favorite film of 2005, and I felt it well deserved it. I was watching the end of the show with my roommates, 3 huge film buffs, who were 110% sure that Brokeback Mountain would win, and I was the only one whose jaw didn’t drop to the ground when Jack said “Crash”…rather, I said “told ya”. ---
**Author:** ![swissmtndog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/85e7bf/32.png) [@swissmtndog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/swissmtndog)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2006, 6:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/crash-deserving-of-best-picture/347223/14 "2006-03-06T06:17:17Z")
Call me crazy, but I’ve seen all five nominees…Crash was a very good movie, deserved to be nominated but I would have picked Brokeback Mountain. Would have nominated A History of Violence and Walk The Line over Munich and Capote…this was a pretty good year for movies. ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2006, 7:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/crash-deserving-of-best-picture/347223/15 "2006-03-06T07:24:30Z")
Well probably what the question is isn’t whether Crash was the best film, but rather whether Brokeback was better than it or if it just would have been more politically beneficial. I haven’t seen either, so I have no input on that subject though. ---
**Author:** ![Omniscient](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omniscient/32/3290_2.png) [@Omniscient](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omniscient)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2006, 9:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/crash-deserving-of-best-picture/347223/16 "2006-03-06T09:00:53Z")
> [@Sage Rat](#): > > Well probably what the question is isn’t whether Crash was the best film, but rather whether Brokeback was better than it or if it just would have been more politically beneficial. I made this precise argument in the other thread. I had the opinion that it’s the latter, and therefore _Brokeback_ wasn’t deserving. Of course, _Crash_ was kinda clunky in parts too. ---
**Author:** ![cactus\_waltz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/74df32/32.png) [@cactus\_waltz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cactus_waltz)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2006, 11:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/crash-deserving-of-best-picture/347223/17 "2006-03-06T11:30:40Z")
I felt that Crash was this years’ **Traffic**. Both are about as unexciting. I really felt that Crash was unpolished and could’ve been better than it was. ---
**Author:** ![Kalhoun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3bc359/32.png) [@Kalhoun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalhoun)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2006, 11:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/crash-deserving-of-best-picture/347223/18 "2006-03-06T11:36:03Z")
The only nominees I saw this year were Crash and The Constant Gardener. I think the Constant Gardener may have edged out Crash in my mind, but only by a hair. I used to make it a point to see all the nominees before Oscar night. I wish I would have seen them all, because I truly WANT to see them all this year, and that’s not always the case. ---
**Author:** ![Cheesesteak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cheesesteak/32/3694_2.png) [@Cheesesteak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheesesteak)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2006, 12:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/crash-deserving-of-best-picture/347223/19 "2006-03-06T12:08:05Z")
Crash left me flat. The things that fans glossed over, the characters being caracatures of real people, and the plot being heavily contrived just bothered me too much. It didn’t get me thinking about racism as much as thinking “people aren’t really like this.” Frankly, I didn’t think it deserved a nomination. ---
**Author:** ![Trunk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/87869e/32.png) [@Trunk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trunk)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2006, 1:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/crash-deserving-of-best-picture/347223/20 "2006-03-06T13:03:33Z")
> [@Cheesesteak](#): > > Crash left me flat. The things that fans glossed over, the characters being caracatures of real people, and the plot being heavily contrived just bothered me too much. I don’t think fans gloss over those things. I think that fans recognize that those things were the deliberately chosen tools with which the story was told. Some people don’t seem to get that. I think the Ebert essay in the OP makes that argument better than I could. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/crash-deserving-of-best-picture/347223.md?page=2)