1. The acting. Howard and Cheadle are two of today's best, and gave great performances. 2. Plot twists and intertwining. It was well done with what seemed to be unconnected events, that all tied together. There were surprises 3. The Characters. Almost all the characters had good points, weaknesses, bad points, performed solid actions, and despicable actions. 4. Portrayed a realistic view of some of the problems with race relations today. They showed some of the depth and complexity involved. 5. Showed the shades of gray in almost every situation instead of the typical movie which has everything as either all good, or all bad.
One thing bothered me: regarding the white cop who pulled the black woman from the burning car -- why did he feel her up earlier in front of her husband? Was feeling her up racially motivated, or would he have done that to a white woman too? His actions just seemed contradictory. What is he thinking; it's okay to be a complete a$$hole and use his authority as a cop to sexually abuse someone, but he draws the line at letting that person die? That part of the movie puzzled me.
Maybe it was an epiphany of some sort. Plus, seeing a woman about to die in a burning car might even cause a racist to save them, regardless of color.
