Collateral

For the better part of his career, Tom Cruise has played the All-American good guy. Gleaming eyed and bushy tailed, Cruise has played the roll of the hero in many films and is certainly the richer for it.

Something happened along the way, though. Cruise wanted to be considered a legitimate actor, rather than merely a "movie star." Therefore, we've seen him go against type, successfully (MAGNOLIA), and not so much (THE LAST SAMURAI). It's as if Cruise is the neglected kid in the back of the classroom who knows all of the answers but is never called upon, and therefore will go to desperate ends for attention. "Oh, Oh!! Pick me!!! Pick me!!!"

For me, Cruise hit it this time. His character in COLLATERAL is a menacing study in coldness. It is a thoroughly believable depiction of an utterly ruthless hit-man. It seems, finally, Cruise is actually BAD, rather than merely acting bad. He disdains his usual tricks in favor of a simple and very real performance.

Let us not forget Jamie Foxx. His character's transformation into a hero is rendered all the more effective by how wonderfully Foxx captures his character's initial impotence and bewilderment. It's a wonderfully effective, energetic, and yet very subtle performance.

Special kudos to Michael Mann. He has a very interesting eye when it comes to capturing the city of Los Angeles on film. His vision of L.A. in this film is one of unease and uncertainty, hardly the usual glitz and glamor treatment. This work is always compelling to the eye and paced to keep the action moving ever forward. Each scene has its own logic, contributing to the overall whole. This is first rate film-making.

This is a collision of two lives… All collapsed in the events of one night…

The movie starts with Vincent (Tom Cruise) arriving to L.A., a guy who just looks perfect…

Some people happen to people on purpose, in order to tell them something about their lives…And they sit somewhere and share two or three lines, and they leave, and you know, your life is changed…

When Max (Jamie Foxx) first meets Vincent, it was "who cares? He was a dreamer when he said: "I just saw the woman of my dreams…I'm getting married in my mind right now." Vincent says, "I want you to disconnect so that when you guy do connect, it's like day and night." And continues… "I got five stops to make. Collect signatures, see some friends, and then I got a 6 a.m. out of LAX. Why don't you hang with me?"

It's not until the offering of the money that you see really connect…

"Collateral" projects in a much deeper way into Cruise/Vincent character… He can become very quiet, and we can look at the screen, and we will feel that Cruise is totally in command…He's a quick draw…Vincent is fast…As an assassin, he must be economical in his moves…

The film focused some of the wildness, and what lurks below the surface of L.A. Just the opening shot, when we look at that cab driving out and we see the big paintings on the walls, it was just visual sophistication…

The movie is not an action story… It's a compelling drama with realistic action that works for the story… And it is done for an emotional reason… Cruise gives a dynamic performance as the cold-blooded killer… Foxx is terrific as the honest hearted guy driving a cab for twelve years, and both come together suddenly like a spike in a railroad right here in this point where things were going to change in one night…Jamie Foxx finds himself in the presence of a real adversary in the form of this bumbling cab driver, who has never fired a handgun in his life

People rave about Tom Cruise in other projects, but I'll say his best 2 for me are Born on the Fourth of July and this one.

It isn't just about playing against type. It's about the difference between playing someone who's bad and just being bad. It's about authenticity. You see it in great actors.

I'm new to this site but I've seen hundreds, if not thousands of films in my lifetime. He's one of the few modern movie actors who have this kind of star power. He's not as authentic (or instead of authentic I should say he sometimes looks like he's efforting his performance) in all of his performances as others (like a Spencer Tracy or Henry Fonda, for example), but when he's on...He's ON.

Collateral is a masterpiece of American cinema. Jamie Foxx is Max, a Los Angeles cab driver with dreams of his own limo company, "Island Limo". After twelve years on the job he has become quite gifted at discerning the most intimate details of his passengers' lives... just a glance at their clothes, and he knows.

His worldly insight manages to tear down the defenses of one of his passengers, a State Attorney played by Jada Pinkett Smith, who graces him with her phone number. Max hasn't even begun to revel in the pleasure of possessing the beautiful attorney's digits when he gets his next passenger, Tom Cruise as Vincent, a slick hit-man in town for a night of killing.

When a body drops out of a fourth story window and onto Max's cab, he becomes an unwilling partner on Vincent's murder spree. Director Michael Mann (The Insider, Ali) does a masterful job manipulating texture and tone throughout the movie, taking us to settings as diverse as a junkie's apartment, a penthouse, a hospital room, and a smoky jazz club, all the while making the city of angels a central character in the story.

The soundtrack is also excellent, with a mixture of popular music and ambient tracks perfectly-timed and synced to the story... tribal drumbeats during the chase scenes, haunting rock ballads at pivotal moments, and one track that reminded this viewer of the scene at the other end of Tom Cruise's career, when he drives his father's Porsche out of the garage in "Risky Business" to the accompaniment of a thumping synth track. A bizarre side-note, I know.

As the movie builds to a climax, the police are hunting for Max, believing he is the one on a killing spree, and Vincent stalks his final victim in a blacked-out high-rise office to a backdrop of the brilliant LA skyline, reflected in multiplicity by the office's dozens of glass cubicles.

Tom Cruise, Jamie Foxx, and Jada Pinkett Smith all rise to the occasion in Collateral, and together they transcend their previous appearances on film. Mark Ruffalo gives a good performance as the cop who knows everything is not what it seems.

There are a few minor plot points which didn't sufficiently suspend my disbelief (like when Max agrees to take Vincent the vicious hit-man to see his Mother in the hospital), but overall this is a fantastic movie.

Troy Dayton

Max thinks his day is looking up when he gets a beautiful fare who gives him a tip and her business card when she gets out. Resting on his laurels, Max nearly misses his next fare; Vincent, in LA for just one night to close out 5 deals, get signatures and then fly out by 6am and he offers Max a few hundred dollars to taxi him around for the night and then drop him at the airport. Max agrees and takes him to the first stop, only to discover that Vincent's job is actually to kill a list of 5 people and, now that Max has witnessed one killing, Vincent has no choice but to keep him with him.

I loved this film; there is no point in trying to hide that fact, but I am not blind to the problems that it has: too many reviewers have either loved it without exception or overly criticised it. The plot has holes – there, I've said it. The plot relies on some actions that don't ring true and other times rely on coincidences or just write things in to move the plot. However this is not a massive problem because it is still very enjoyable and gripping and its other strengths cover these problems. Of course, even with the holes it is still very enjoyable but demands your patience because, although it is tense, it isn't a roller coaster for the vast majority of the time. It has very fast moments but a lot of it is talky and patient – not a problem for me, but I can see why some multiplexers may have had itchy feet waiting for action. However even with this patience, the film is still very tense – helped by some very sudden moments of violence that come out of nowhere and help put the audience on edge. Much was made in Heat of key moments where opposite characters find common ground and in this film it is the opposite but done to similarly interesting effect. Here Max and Vincent are opposites who get under each others' skins over the course of the night; their relationship is very strange and I think the script does well to bring this across even if it is hard to understand at times (part of this is their relationship getting tied up in some of the plot weaknesses).

A big part of the plot problems being covered is due to the strong direction from Mann, who can shoot a city like nobody else. As others have said, the fly-overs look great but for me the surprise was to see Mann add digital film to his cannon. This allows him to mix very rough, intimate shots with film to bring the audience in closer. I also noticed that he seemed to do very close angles and frames with 'proper' film as well, all increasing the feel of being 'there' and intimately involved. Of course, on top of this we still had Mann's usual shooting of LA at night – fluorescent lighting, empty streets and so on – nothing new but it is still very effective and great to look at. If it weren't for the very heavy cast involved here then Mann would be the main star of the film but, as it is, his direction is just part of the film pulling together to produce the goods.

The cast is impressive and those who have come on the basis of Cruise alone will be surprised to find so many well known faces who are very able. Cruise wants an Oscar and he has done several of the Oscar tricks to get one – his most recent attempt here is to play totally against type. He does it pretty well, making for a convincing cold killer on the surface but still able to reveal an empty core when he is pushed. If he had been allowed to do this more then maybe he would have been more impressive but he isn't and the end result is just a good performance. Of course it doesn't help that Cruise has to play opposite Jamie Foxx delivering one of his most assured performances yet. Based on seeing him in stuff like Booty Call and his own comedy show, I was worried when I saw him due to star in this movie but it turns out that he can act! In fact he dominates the film with a quiet role that runs a gauntlet of emotions while Cruise mostly sits in 'cold killer' mode, meaning that, in most scenes, Foxx is the one we are watching. The support cast is surprisingly deep and the amount of familiar faces makes some moments of violence all the more unexpected. While none of them are really given the time to shine, there are quality turns from Smith, Berg, McGill, Hall, Henley and Ruffalo and it gives the (albeit false) impression of an all-star ensemble; although why Jason Stratham bothered to turn out for the one day of shooting he must have done for the airport scene is beyond me.

Overall this is a very effective film. The atmosphere is just right and is helped by the script, the cast and the director – all combining to provide a patient pace that still manages to be very tense and exciting. Mann's direction is great, mixing film with digital to good effect and Cruise is very good playing against type with a good support cast of well-known faces.

However the genuine surprise of the film is Jamie Foxx; better known for clichéd ethnic comedy roles, he steps up here and just about steals every scene he is in.