What I see absent in most people's responses is the overlooking of the central theme of relationships being the core circumstance of everyone's life in Grand Canyon.
Every scene in Grand Canyon is a study in how people meet, how they relate, their need for empathy, how they can honestly interact when they let themselves, and the growth of a deep connection based on a genuine desire to reach out to others and find validation of "self."
Grand Canyon was populated with some of the finest character actors in America, and the smaller, bit roles, like armed young man who confronts Kevin Klein's character when his car breaks down, were executed in a pitch-perfect manner.
Steve Martin's performance was as nuanced as his character's behavior was stereotypical Hollywood.
When I contrast this story with that of the film Crash, the first thing I notice is that in Crash I found it hard to care about any of the characters at all. This could very well be because they portrayed people who elicited little love or empathy, and therein lies the big difference (for me) between the two films.
The themes of race and class are merely garnishes in Grand Canyon that provide the flavoring of the people's lives in the story but were not the central themes of the plot.
Everyone wants to find someone who understands their motivations, the things they care about in their lives, relationships that validate their own existence and worth. I believe that is the central theme in Grand Canyon.
In Crash, I saw the characters adrift in lives of little value, not so much looking for a connection to others, but in seeking validation for their masturbatory existences and justification for their weaknesses and excess.
One more thing I want to add is that James Newton Howard's score of the film was so highly evocative that it was the perfect companion to the thematic memes of the onscreen action.
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