My Year in Film - Part 1

Through the rest of this week, I'm going to take a look back at the year in film. Today we're focusing on the year's most disappointing (not necessarily the worst) films.

Gaper's Block
Oddly enough, two of the year's most overhyped films both have the word "Crash" in their title. Crash and Wedding Crashers. I had no desire to see either of these movies in the theater, and I'm glad I didn't. But I'd been hearing people (including many people I usually trust) singing the praises of both of these wrecks.

Crash
I'll start with Crash, the most manipulative film this side of Michael Moore. What an unbelievable piece of shit. Shameful. Offensive. Racist. These characters were all perfect, oversimplified stereotypes. The misunderstood "Arab", the reformed Hispanic, the upper class and intelligent blacks, racist and conflicted white cops, suspicious upper class whites, "weird" Asians, etc. Look, I have no problem with unbelievable characters in a movie, because I understand that movies are fictional. And this movie is fictional. But if it's going to attempt to present a true slice of American life, at least do it accurately. When this movie was over, I was angry, not because of all the racism and intolerance in our society, but because this movie only furthered the stereotypes it portrays. These so-called caricatures are put on display. Are you familiar with minstrel shows?

Don't tell me I'm missing the point. I understand the point, and this issue can be handled well. Please, for the love of God, see Do the Right Thing immediately to cleanse yourself of this atrocity. That film tackles racial tension unlike any other, and makes Crash look laughable.


Wedding Crashers
I hate Vince Vaughn. Let's get that out of the way. But he doesn't really interfere in my enjoyment of movies. I liked him Anchorman, Old School, Dodgeball, and even the sequel to Jurassic Park. And of course he was excellent in Swingers. Something about this guy just rubs me the wrong way. Again, it doesn't always affect the film. And it doesn't affect this film, either. The problem with this movie is that it missed the mark entirely.

The premise is perfect for a buddy comedy. These two guys go to weddings to meet chicks who will be in the mood for love. Fair enough. And this is executed fairly well for the first 20-30 minutes of the film before it falls apart and becomes a horribly cliched and boring movie.

It starts with Owen Wilson and Vaughn as divorce arbitrators. Now that's interseting. Why isn't this used at all in the rest of the film? Too bad. Another problem is that Wilson is supposed to play the straight man, but he's never really been good at that. He's too quirky and then you've got two weird characters on your hands, which might be fine for most movies, but considering how dull this film becomes in the second half, it's just out of place.

My main problem with this film, however, is that everyone was telling me how hilarious it was. I love the funny, don't get me wrong. I own Mean Girls, for Christ's sake. But this movie, like Coldplay, was nothing more than average.