It's difficult to argue that Crash wasn't made with good intentions; its director, Paul Haggis, set out to chronicle race relations in urban Los Angeles, and for the most part he followed through those intentions with a worthwhile movie that - at the very least - tried to say something. Even if Crash didn't deserve its Oscar for Best Picture back in 2005, there's no doubting that it didn't deserve the backlash that was suddenly heaped upon it in the run up to its win and in the aftermath, either. Let's not forget that this was an indie film that was dragged into Oscar territory, after all. Had it not been nominated for any Oscars (Haggis really did set out to make this movie in the indie vein; the budget was a mere $6.5 million), likelihood is it that, today, we'd be branding it a "forgotten classic." Haggis himself even commented on Crash's Oscar glory, modestly explaining that " didn't think it deserved to win best movie." Whether or not that's true, it wasn't up to Haggis anyway, assuring that much of the hate was unjust. Crash is not perfect, nor does it purport to be. The issue here? That it simply soared way higher than anyone expected it to.
