Wasn't interested in the film before reading your review, as what I had heard had led to me to believe this is yet another contrived hollywood soap-opera about minorities which also wants to see itself as a socially conscious and politically relevant film - a combination I usually despise, and something that even bothers me in more ambitious ventures like Paul Haggis' Crash (2004). 
But you make it sound entertaining and self-conscious, so maybe I'll give it a try if I come upon it. At least I won't forgo it anymore and unconsciously disregard it as trite.