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| “ | You think you know who you are? You have no idea. | „ |
| ~ John Ryan's most famous quote. |
| “ | You know, you don't like me, that's fine, I'm a prick. My father doesn't deserve to suffer like this. He was a janitor, struggled his whole life. Saved enough to start his own company, 23 employees, all of them Black, paid them equal wages when no one else was doing that. For 30 years he worked side by side with those men sweeping and carrying garbage. Then the city council decides to give minority owned companies preference to city contracts and overnight my father loses everything, his business, his home, his wife, everything. Not once does he blame your people. Now, I'm not asking you to help me. I'm asking you to do this small thing for a man who lost everything, so people like you can reap the benefits, and do you know what's its going to cost you? Nothing, just a flick of your pen. | „ |
| ~ John Ryan's speech. |
John Ryan is a supporting antagonist turned major supporting character of the 2004 controversial crime drama film Crash. John is a corrupt, racist police officer.
He was portrayed by Matt Dillon, who also portrayed Jonathan Corliss in A Kiss Before Dying, Patrick Healy in There's Something About Mary, Sam Lombardo in Wild Things, Trip Murphy in Herbie: Fully Loaded, and Jack The House That Jack Built.
Biography[]
John Ryan first appears in the film at a diner two Asian men talk about pickup of items. When he phones an HMO administrator about his father's medical ailment, the administrator seems sympathetic but remains bureaucratic. When she mentions her name is Shaniqua, Ryan makes an angry comment and she hangs up. As he leaves the police station, a white van driven by the Asian man from the diner passes in front of Ryan. Ryan and his partner Officer Tom Hansen patrol and notice a black Navigator, as Ryan follows but Hansen states it is not the same plates as the report. As they close up behind the SUV, Ryan shines a light into the vehicle, causing a woman to raise her head and look back. Ryan turns on the lightbar and pulls over the truck, as the cops ask the well dressed black couple inside, Cameron and Christine Thayer, to get out. Cameron is overly polite and deferential, saying they are close to their home, while Christine is slightly drunk and taunts the police. Ryan is angry and makes a point of slowly physically searching the woman, who is wearing a revealing cocktail dress. Hansen realizes his partner is out of line, Cameron remains quiet as his wife is groped. The cops then let the Thayers go.
Hansen talks to Lt. Dixon about changing partners, as the lieutenant, a black man, tells Hansen that claiming Ryan is a racist will make the lieutenant look like a bad manager. If Hansen wants to change, he has to claim to have a flatulence problem himself and needs to ride alone. Ryan goes to see Shaniqua in person, where he is initially apologetic, trying to explain his father's HMO doctor is incompetent and he wants a second opinion, but Shaniqua says it wouldn't be covered by the plan. Ryan gets upset and says his father was a victim of affirmative action and that she, as its beneficiary, should help him. Shaniqua is not impressed, and calls security to kick Ryan out. Going out on shift, Ryan sees Hansen and wishes him well, also prophetically warnning Hansen that he may not know himself as well as he thinks he does. Ryan then cheerfully calls out to his new partner, Gomez. Hansen then gets into a police unit by himself, and the dispatcher makes a fart joke.
Arriving at an accident scene Ryan runs to a rolled car, someone is trapped inside, being a caught Christine Thayer. She at first becomes distraught when she recognizes Ryan, and refuses his help. Ryan insists harshly that he won't hurt her, and tries to free her as there is spilled gas and a burning wreck nearby. The fire races toward the inverted car, other cops pull Ryan out as the car catches fire. He breaks free of his colleagues' grip and goes back into the car and cuts Christine free of her seat belt, pulling her out just before the vehicle explodes in a fireball. Christine is taken away, badly shaken, as she looks back at the now heroic John Ryan.
Trivia[]
- Matt Dillon, who portrayed John Ryan, received nominations for Best Supporting Actor from the Academy Awards, BAFTA, Golden Globe, and Screen Actors Guild, among others for his performance.
- As of 2022, John Ryan is Matt Dillon's only Oscar nominated performance.
- The subplot story of Officer John Ryan and his father came from a piece of hate mail that director Paul Haggis received while he was working as a writer on the television series Family Law.
- In a interview with Vulture, Thandiwe Newton stated that director Paul Haggis ensured she was wearing special protective underwear for the police sexual assault scene, because he wanted it to look "real" from the camera's perspective for Matt Dillon "to go there".