1. Groupings and Interactions of Characters :
L.A. citizens with vastly separate lives collide in interweaving stories of race, loss, and redemption.
Groupings and Interactions of Characters :
- Officer Ryan (Matt Dillon), his ailing father, and Shaniqua Johnson from the Medicaid office - Officer Hanson (Ryan Phillippe), the hitchhiker, and the dashboard figurine  - Detective Waters (Don Cheadle), his partner Ria, his mother, and his brother Peter  - Older Iranian-American man who runs a shop with his wife and his daughter  - Two young African American men, Anthony (the talker) and Peter (the quiet one)  - A Latino, Daniel, who is a locksmith and his little daughter  - Jean Cabot (Sandra Bullock), her husband D.A. Richard Cabot (Brendan Fraser) and Maria  - African American film director Cameron (Terrence Howard), his wife Christine (Tandie Newton)
- A Chinese American and his cargo, as well as his wife and her accident